Reunion
by etsunara
Summary: This is the sequel to Welcome, Naruto! so if you haven't read that yet, read it first, then read this :D Okay, so this is basically the opposite of the first one. We the fans in the story go to the Naruto Universe. Enjoy!
1. Summoning

**D: Here I am again, world!**

**K: Yay, you're back!**

**A: We missed you, even if I was only in the last chapter. So what's in store for us in this story?**

**D: Lot's of action, maybe some romance and I'm hoping for a splash of humor, too. Does that sound like a recipe for disaster or what?**

**K and A: Or what.**

**D: Really? I was thinking it was disaster, but I guess you'll have to wait and see! So, who wants to do the disclaimer? I'm kind of tired of doing it.**

**K and A: Not me!**

**D: Fine. I *short pause* call on Hidan!**

**H: What?**

**D: Do the disclaimer. Don't worry, you don't have to tell everyone how awesome I am, they already know :D**

**H: She doesn't own Naruto. Or Gaara. Or me, for that matter, I'm f***ing out of here. *Storms out***

**D: It was nice to see you, too, Hidan! *Waves after him until he's out of sight* Ah, he's a nice guy, don't you think?**

***K and A stare at me blankly***

**K: He nearly killed you. Does that mean **_**anything**_** to you?**

**D: Not really, considering I'm alive right now.**

**A: Can we get on with the story? I think you're boring the audience.**

**D: Fine, enjoy. Oh, and everything will be in my POV unless specified by me.**

**Chapter 1:**

**Summoning:**

**Tow Years Later (after the first book/story)**

"Kye, are you almost done in there?" I asked. Kye wanted to play dress up with me and Akito, but Akito didn't feel like it, and, as and eighteen year old, I told Kye it felt rather childish of me to play such silly games. I told her that if she was going to do it, not to dress up like a princess or a fairy or, God forbid, both. She was, after all, eighteen just like me.

"Almost," she called from the bathroom. "Promise me one thing?"

"What?" I asked.

"Don't take any pictures or videos," she replied.

"Okay." _Too late for that._ I had already set up a camcorder on a tripod and I had a still camera at the ready.

The bathroom door opened slowly, and I pressed record on the camcorder and prepared to take pictures.

"Hey!" She yelled when she saw the flash. "I asked you not to do that!"

"Wow, Kye," I said. "You look like a hooker." She had on a really short and super low cut off white dress, and she wore really high black hooker shoes (for the record, and I quote from Kye, she would never wear this).

"Yeah, and that's why I asked for no pictures or videos," she said.

"Aw, but I was doing this incase we saw Itachi again," I said.

"Oh, well, if it's just Itachi," she said. "Wait, no, that's not okay, I don't want to think of me as a hooker! But wait, I thought you weren't going to dress up." She was me wearing a black mini skirt with a black low cut tank top, and three-inch platform shoes.

"I'm not as dressed up as you, but I was waiting for a while so I decided to put on something completely and totally impractical," I explained.

"You guys almost done up there?" Akito asked.

"Come on, I'll leave the cameras up here," said. We walked downstairs and were met with a gasp from our fourteen year old friend.

"What on Earth are you wearing?" She asked in horror. "Kye, you look like a hooker!"

"What, no comment about me?" I asked sarcastically.

"You look relatively normal next to her," Akito said. We stood in a circle staring at each other when this weird feeling came over us. A feeling as if we were being summoned somewhere against our will. There was a loud pop/explosion sound, and then there was smoke clearing around us. Before I knew what was happening, Kye and I were being embraced by a strong girl.

"Darcy, Kye, it's been so long, I've missed you guys!

"Sakura, is that you?" I asked. She let go of us smiling. "Sakura! But wait, what are we doing here?"

"Well, that's for Lady Tsunade to explain to you," she said. I looked around to see we were standing in one of the training grounds, the one Kakashi Sensei tested team seven in, if I'm correct. The posts were behind us, and the lake behind them. In front of us, Sakura was rejoining Naruto, Sai and Kakashi Sensei, who stood off to the left. To the right stood Shikaku, Shikamaru, Ino and Choji, and then in the middle of the two groups stood Tsunade.

"Now, before I explain anything, who's the extra?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm Akito, Kelsey's my cousin," she explained. "And my chakra type is lightning!"

"Okay, good to know," Tsunade said, turning her gaze to me, and then Kye. "Now, what are you wearing?"

"Um, well," Kye said. "Okay, Darcy, maybe you were right."

"I usually am, but about what this time?' I asked.

"This dress up idea was stupid," Kye said.

"Aw, don't be hard on yourself," I said. "It's not like we knew we would be summoned by the Hokage."

"Gee, why don't I feel better after hearing that?" She asked sarcastically.

"We can get you new close later, but first, the reason you've been summoned." Everyone straightened up in attention and ready for the briefing. "Akatsuki is on the move again, and since two of you have fought them already, I figured that it would be smart to have you on our side, ready to fight. But first, you need to become Genin, at the very least. If you aren't associated with this village, then I can't send you on missions. So, who's ready to be tested? It will require a lot of movement." Akito was the only one to raise her hand.

"Um, Lady Tsunade," I said hesitantly. "Kye and I need new clothes."

"Right," she said. But before she could continue, Shizune called her name.

"Lady Tsunade, they're here!" We all looked up to see Shizune leading Temari, Kankuro and Gaara into the clearing.

"Aw, not them, too," Kye complained under her breath.

"Hey, why should I care, I'm not the one who looks like a hooker," I said. My eyes met with Gaara's and we smiled.

"Good, you're hear," Tsunade said. "Oh, you three might have time to register for the Chunin Exams if you can get new clothes quickly so you can test to be Genin."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come on, let's go shopping!" Sakura said, grabbing me and Kye by the arm and dragging us into Konoha.

**D: Well, there you have it. Tell me what you think, and for those of you who were just readers last time, how about some reviews? It would make me feel really, really, really loved!**

**K: It would, it really would.**

**A: So what's next chapter?**

**D: Next chapter will be shopping; I'll try to drag it out as much as I can. Not so it's really boring, but so that's it's not short. Okay, review please! **


	2. Shopping

**D: Okay, this chapter will switch between POVs but it will start with me.**

**K: Will I be next?**

**D: Yes, you will be, but we don't need to tell them, they'll read it soon enough.**

**A: What about me?**

**D: You'll come in later, when we're getting all of our ninja equipment.**

**A: Yay!**

**D: Anywho, on with the story. **

**K: And she doesn't own Naruto.**

**D: Thank you :D**

**Chapter 2:**

**Shopping:**

It was only after we left the training grounds that I realized Akito, Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji Temari, Kankuro and Gaara were following us. Before I had time to break away from her to try and talk to Gaara, she had pulled me into a shop.

"Okay, this shop has all the ninja gear you will ever need ranging from basic to intermediate," Sakura explained. "Start with clothes; we'll worry about weapons later. Okay, split up, and we'll meet back in, oh, let's say, an hour to see what you've come up with."

I went off to the back were I saw racks and shelves of clothes covering the back wall. There were others in the front, but I was drawn to the back for some reason. I was looking through shirts when someone shoved a shirt in front of me.

"Try this on," Gaara said. It was a black long sleeved shirt, the kind the majority of the Jonins wear.

"Okay," I said. Then I eyed a white spaghetti strap tank top. I grabbed that, and a pair of black spandex shorts and a white skirt (just like Sakura's) and I hurried to the changing room. When I came out Ino, Shikamaru and Choji and joined Gaara.

"That's so cute!" Ino squealed.

"You still need shoes," Gaara said.

"I have shoes," I replied stupidly.

"_Better_ shoes," he said.

"Right," I said. I found a shelf with shoes and found a pair just like Sakura's (the ninja boot/sandal things with the small heels).

"No," he said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"There's too much of a heel," he said.

"No there's not, Sakura wears a pair just like these," I complained. "You guys like them, right?" I turned on Ino, Shikamaru and Choji.

"I think they're adorable!" Ino said. "Besides, they are ninja shoes, she'll be fine."

"What do you two think?" Gaara turned on Choji and Shikamaru.

"I think that we shouldn't get involved," Choji said.

"Besides," Shikamaru said. "If Ino says they're okay, then they probably are. She may be really into fashion, but she does know how to stylize practically."

"Okay, Sakura, time to shop for weapons," I said, after leaving the group of Shinobi arguing about my choice in shoes.

"Alright," she said. "I like your outfit; it's cute and practical. So, for weapons, we'll get you the basics, and then you can see if you want anything else. Okay, here's a shurikin holster with ten shurikin and ten kunai. Do you want anything else?"

"Nope, I'll stick with the basics and my amazing ninjutsu and taijutsu skills," I said with a smile.

"Well, you're all taken care of, I'm going to check on the others," Sakura said.

**Kye's POV:**

"Kye, what are you doing?" Sakura asked me.

"What? Oh, I'm just sulking," I explained. "About the fact that Sasuke and Itachi aren't here." I added at her confused look.

"Well, you desperately need new clothes." She grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

"Yeah, you're right," I said. I walked over to a wrack of clothes and browsed for a while until I found what I wanted: A pair of black spandex shorts, a red and black dress just like Sakura's (pre-shippuden) with sliver crescent moons instead of circles, and black combat boots (which I got off of the shoes shelf). I ran to the dressing room and tried it on. When I came out everyone seemed to be there (the Ino-shika-Cho trio, Sakura, Naruto, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Darcy and Akito). "Okay, what do you guys think?"

"I love it!" Darcy said, and there were approving nods from all of the other girls and Naruto. All of the other guys just kind of stood there awkwardly. "So, can I get my sharp, pointy weapons now?"

"Why does that sound like a really bad idea?" Darcy asked.

"Oh, relax, I won't hurt _you_, just our opponents," I reassured her.

"Somehow, I'm not reassured," she said, and she walked off with Akito, saying something about finding her a weapon. Gaara followed them (shocker there? I say nay). What was a shocker was that Naruto followed them, too.

"Okay, so, I got you a shurikin holster with ten shurikin and ten kunai. Is there anything else you want?" Sakura asked.

"Hehe, oh, hell yes," I said. I could feel the evil grin on my face. As I hurried off to look at weapons, I heard (or thought I heard) Sakura say something like 'maybe Darcy was right'.

"Okay, so I want this," I said, picking up two huge shurikin (just like the ones Mizuki had). "And I want this, no, wait, I want that, no, I want, um, not that, not that, not that, but THAT!" I said. Sakura looked at me, possibly a bit concerned.

"Okay," she said anyways. "Two giant shurikin and two katana it is then. Alright, you two are set, now all that's left is Akito."

**Akito's POV:**

"Already looking at weapons, Akito?" I jumped at the voice, and turned to see Sakura standing behind me, smiling.

"Yeah, I think I found one that I like, too," I said, picking up the sword I was looking at.

"Oh, this one conducts lightning type chakra and converts it into lightning," Sakura said.

"Really? I only wanted it because if looked cool," I said, taking the sword back.

"You don't want any new clothes?" Sakura asked.

"No, thank you, you don't need to spend any more money on me than is necessary," I explained. "Can we get going? I really want to become a genin." Sakura laughed and nodded. Once everything was paid for, we headed back to the training grounds. Darcy, Kye, and I kept talking about our new stuff. I loved their new outfits, and I loved Kye's weapons. Everyone loved my weapon, too, once I explained. But one thing was bugging me.

"Hey, Darcy, why don't you have a weapon?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm sticking with the basics," she said, pointing to her shurikin holster. "That, and my amazing ninjutsu and taijutsu skills."

"Somebody needs an ego check," Kye said.

"I do not, and you know it," Darcy objected said. "I survived two fights with a sadistic, S-Class criminal; I think that means I have some skill."

"Remember, though, you nearly died the first time," Kye reminded her.

"Hey, guys, let's focus so we're ready for our test," I suggested.

"Yeah, we're so going to kick ass!" Darcy said.

"Hell yeah!" Kye joined in.

"I am so ready!" We all ran ahead of the group

**D: Well, chapter two is done. Oh, I don't think I've done this yet, so a big thanks to PrincessKye and xakitoxuchihax for letting me use them in my story. **

**A: Please review, we all love it!**


	3. The Ultimate Ninja Showdown

**D: Here we go again.**

**Naru: So, you ready for your genin test?**

**D: Yeah**

**K: Of course**

**A: No!**

***Not, we all spoke at the same time***

**D and K: Why aren't you ready, Akito, we've trained you well, besides, you have nothing to worry about; we'll watch your back.**

**A: Well, it's just that I've never fought Kakashi, is he tough?**

**D: Well, of course he is. He's a Jonin, but he'll hold back, and he definitely won't kill you.**

**A: What about hurt me?**

**K: No promises there, girlfriend.**

**A: *Quivering in fear***

**D: Um, anyways, I don't own Naruto or Naruto Abridged (yes, that will be here :D). **

**Oh, and this will be in my POV. It'll be like that from now on unless specified.**

**Chapter 3:**

**The Ultimate Ninja Showdown (yeah…):**

Kye, Akito and I stood in a line facing Kakashi Sensei.

"Okay, are you all ready?" Tsunade asked. The three of us nodded. "Take it away, Kakashi."

"Okay, well, considering you are all fans, it feels unnecessary to explain this, but," Kakashi said, pausing to reach into his pocket, and he pulled out two bells. "Well, you know the drill, and, unfortunately, the lesson, too. Get the bells by noon, which gives you two hours. Get the bells by any means necessary, you–"

"We have to come at you with the intent to kill," I said. "We know, can we start now?"

"Sure," Kakashi Sensei said, rather annoyed. "Ready, begin!" With out warning, he was gone (wow, I seem to be writing that a lot lately).

"Okay, guys, I think we should split up to find him, and once we do, send some sort of signal to the others," I said. "Unless you have another plan?"

"That's the best plan for now," Kye agreed. "What do you think, Akito?"

"I agree," she said.

"Okay, let's go!" I said. We all jumped in different directions and started our search for our Sensei.

_Now, where could he be?_ How should I know? _Oh, shut it!_ Hey, you asked.

I ran past tree after tree, until I reached another clearing with a lake and Kakashi Sensei standing in the middle of it.

_Okay, now you just need to signal the others with a water dragon. _So how about you do it instead of think about it? _Oh, shut it._

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" I focused my chakra and made the water dragon so that it flew into the air and exploded into sparks of water (is that possible?).

"Um, you missed," Kakashi Sensei said.

"Woops," I said, playing along.

He jumped towards me, kunai in hand. I reached for my own kunai, grabbing it and blocking Kakashi Sensei's just in time. He grabbed a second one, and I started to panic. I was focusing all of my strength into blocking his first kunai, if I took just one hand off of mine, it would slip and I'd end up with two kunai stuck in my body. I don't know about you, but that was _not_ my definition of fun.

_Where are you guys?_

Just when I though all was lost, Kakashi Sensei jumped away from me and back onto the water.

"Sorry it took us so long," Kye said with a smile.

"Yeah, we got held up," Akito added.

"Held up? Doing what, admiring the flowers?" I half asked, half yelled at them.

"Um, maybe," Kye said.

"Let's just focus," Akito suggested, and we nodded in agreement.

"Now I get it," Kakashi Sensei said. "That water dragon was to signal your friends, not stop me."

"Yup, and now that we're all together," I said. "Let's get him." We quickly moved behind him, and before he knew what was happening, he was hit by a water vortex jutsu (a giant one, be precise) with lightning swirling around it (I think I'll call this the Giant Lightning Vortex Combo, what do you guys thing?). He was hit hard, and when the water flowed back into the lake, he was lying on the ground twitching.

"Do you guys think we over did it?" I asked concerned.

"I hope not," Kye said.

"He's fine," Sakura said.

"That's a relief," Akito said. "So, are we Genin now?"

"Yes you are," Tsunade said. "Here you go." She handed us each a forehead protector.

"Sweet!" I said, tying mine on my forehead.

"Awesome!" Kye said, putting hers on her forehead, too.

"We did great, guys," Akito said, her forehead protector on her forehead as well.

"Okay, now, the Chunin Exams are coming up soon, but to take those, you'll need a Jonin to lead you," Tsunade explained.

"How about Kakashi Sensei?" I asked.

"No, he has to work with Sakura, Naruto and Sai," Tsunade said. "Shikaku, can you teach them?"

"Um, yes, ma'am," he said.

"Good, since the Chunin Exams aren't for another two weeks, you'll have to do a few D ranked missions, maybe a C ranked one, too," Tsunade said.

"Wait, what about Akatsuki?" I asked.

"First, you need to really become a part of this village, besides, Akatsuki won't be attacking anywhere for another month," Tsunade explained. "We needed you here to make sure you were to fight, it has been two years since you fought them."

"That makes sense," I said.

"So, when do we start training, Shikaku Sensei?" Akito asked.

"Tomorrow," he said. "Come with me, you three will be staying with me in the Nara clan grounds. Come on, Shikamaru."

We all started to leave the training grounds, but then I stopped and turned around to see Gaara standing right in front of me.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, hugging me. "I'll check in on your training."

"Thanks," I said, hugging him back, and then turning to follow my friends and new sensei.

**At the Nara Clan Compound:**

"Okay, here are your rooms," Shikaku Sensei said, pointing to three rooms at the end of the hall on the top floor. One was at the very end, one on the right, and one on the wall.

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys in the morning," I said.

"Good night," Kye said.

"Night," Akito said. We all went into our rooms (Me in the center room, Akito in the right room, and Kye in the left room) to settle in and get a good nights rest.

My room had a bed, a bed side table with a lamp, and a dresser. Other than that, it was pretty plain and simple (all of the rooms are like that). I loved it. I dropped my old shoes clothes in the corner, slipped my new shoes off and put them next to the bed, and used my new clothes as pajamas. I crawled under the covers, and instantly fell asleep.

**D: First, the reason I have Shikaku as our sensei is because I have this weird obsession with the Nara clan. Also, I'm going on a two week vacation on Saturday, and I don't think there's internet, so I won't be able to update. But I'm going to have one more update before I go, it'll be, like, a filler chapter, or something. Also, while I'm up north, I'll probably write some chapters while I'm up there, though. Well, please review!**


	4. Filler Chapter

**D: Well, this will be my last update for two weeks, wanna know why?**  
**K and A: Not really, we just want to read the chapter.**  
**D: Ahem**  
**K: I mean, why?**  
**A: Yes, why won't you update for two weeks?**  
**D: Because I'm going on vacation. Now, if I remember correctly, Kye did the last disclaimer, so, Akito, it's your turn.**  
**A: She don't own Naruto.**  
**D: Yay, on with the story!**

**Chapter Four:**  
**Filler Chapter**

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" I asked

"Well, I thought a nice D-ranked mission would be a nice start," Shikaku Sensei said.

"How is that a mission?" Kye asked. "**That's simple. It's because, um, well, uh, I got nothing." (A/N: Haha, Naruto Abridged)**

"D-ranked missions help build team work," Shikaku Sensei explained.

"Oh, well that makes sense," I said.

"Well, let's go," Akito said.

**In the Mission Building:**

"Okay, so we have babysitting, weeding a garden, um, walking dogs, and," Tsunade paused to read off the list.

"Can we just get weeding the garden and be done with it?" I asked.

"Why that? That's so boring," Kye complained.

"Yeah, at least when you walk dogs or baby sit you get some action," Akito said.

"Oh, my God," I said. " You guys sound like Naruto."

"Naruto!" Akito cried. "Can we see him?"

"No," I said. "Besides, this is probably the easiest, and the one we're least likely to mess up. What do you say?"

"Fine," Kye said in defeat.

"Whatever," Akito said.

"Okay, you'll be weeding the Inuzuka's Garden," Tsunade said.

"Oh, Kiba's place," Kye said. "Darcy, if Kiba and Neji come by, promise me you'll text me?"

"No prob, but why?" I asked. "Oh, your text tone _that_ tone." She nodded.

"What? What text tone?" Akito asked, completely out of the loop.

"With any luck, you'll see," Kye said.

"Okay, kids, let's go," Shikaku Sensei said.

**At the Inuzuka's Garden:**

"Alright, Kiba, I leave them in your capable hands," Shikaku Sensei announced.

"Wait, where are you going?" I asked.

"Home, I have some work to do," he explained.

"But you're our sensei," Kye said.

"Yeah, you're supposed to be with us so we know what to do," Akito said.

"Look, this is a team building experience for you three, so you're ready for the Chunin Exams," he explained. "I won't be in the Chunin Exams; therefore I do not need to be here. See ya." And with that, he vanished.

"Well, here's the garden, I don't think you need to be told how to weed it, though," Kiba said, pointing at a rather large garden. "Come see me when you're done." And Kiba went inside.

"Well, let's get started," I said.

"Fine," Kye and Akito said in unison and in monotone.

**Two Hours Later (you gotta say it in the voice of that spongebob narrator guy)**

"It looks like you're half way done," Kiba said, surprising us all.

"Yes, you have good disciplinary skills," Neji said. Kye looked up at me with a huge grin that I returned. With my back to the two, I took out my phone and sent a bunch of random letters to Kye. Her text tone went like this:

Kiba: Awesome!

Neji: Don't ya mean

Both: Excellent *random music in back around*

"What the hell, man?" Kiba asked, completely confused. Meanwhile, there were three girls laughing their ass off in the garden.

"Just finish up, okay?" Kiba asked. "Let's go train, Neji."

"Sure," Neji said, and the two turned and left.

**Two more hours later (yeah, same spongebob guy)**

"Finally, we're finished!" Kye exclaimed, flopping down on the ground.

"I hear ya, girl," Akito agreed, joining her.

"Come on, guys, get up, we need to talk to Kiba, remember?" I reminded them. I just got two cold glares from my friends. "I said, up."

"Fine," they said in unison. They got up, and we all went to talk to Kiba.

"Finished? That was quick," he said.

"Quick? It took us four hours," I said.

"Yeah, the last person who did this for us took eight hours," he said. "Here's your pay." He handed us each $50 each (I'm using American money 'cause I have a better idea of the value. Also, I realize that we probably wouldn't get that much, but we did a good job, so we got extra).

"Sweet, now we can buy more clothes," Akito said.

"And food," Kye said.

"Are you kidding me? I'm saving my money," I said. "Unless I can find some reasonably price pajamas."

"Let's just go home," Kye said.

"Yes," Akito agreed.

We hurried home (the Nara clan grounds) to get a good night's rest. Well, after some training, with any luck.

**D: Okay, that's it for two weeks.**

**K and A: We'll *sniff* miss you! **

**D: I'll *sniff* miss you too! Oh, and next chapter or maybe the chapter after is the Chunin Exam, so I need three new characters and I'll make up two teammates for each of you. So, I'll need your name, you don't need a last name unless you want one, appearance, personality, you don't need to have a favorite character, this is just for the Chunin Exams. I may have you in later chapters, but no promises. Also, chakra type, signature jutsu and/or weapon, and what village you are from (leaf, sand, rain, grass, etc.). Okay, well, I'll be gone for two weeks, so you have plenty of time to review. If I don't get enough characters, then I'll postpone the Chunin Exams until I have enough. Okay, see you in two weeks :D oh wait D: no, I need more of an in between :/ that's good.**


	5. Filler Too

**D: Vacation so far has been pretty sweet. We've (my mom dad, brother and I) have been on the boat, and I even got to go to my grandparents house by myself. Well, my bro came, he was my navigator. And thank goodness for that, or I probably wouldn't be writing this right now. Hehe, I have no sense of direction. Also, my mom, dad, bro, aunt and I went huckleberry hunting. We got a ton! It was so much fun.**

**K: We miss you SOOOO much!**

**A: So, so, so much!**

**D: Aw, I miss you guys, too! Okay, so, I wanted to write a couple chapters while on vacation, then I realized that I couldn't start the Chunin Exams (since I don't have Internet connection), so, I decided, MORE FILLERS! :D So, with out further ado, here WE GOOOOOO! **

**Chapter Five:**

**Filler Chapter:**

**Sub-chapter: Change in Chakra Type Training:**

**Akito's POV:**

"So, Shikaku Sensei, what's on the agenda for today?" Darcy asked.

"Well, you can do what you want, really," he said.

"What? But you're supposed to train us!" I said in protest, jumping into the conversation.

"I don't see what I can teach you, though," Shikaku Sensei said. "Kakashi did a good job training you, from what I saw."

"But–" Kye started.

"Look, go explore Konoha, okay?" He suggested. "If you want to train in something specific, come fine me, and I'll help you. Or, if I can't, I'll direct you to someone who can. How does that sound?"

"Okay," Darcy said.

"Fine," Kye said. They both sounded down. But that didn't stop me.

"So, if I wanted to learn to change my chakra type, you could help?" I asked.

"Depends, what type of chakra?" He asked.

"Wind, just like Naruto," I said.

"Hmm, well, I can tell you the concept on how you change it, but beyond that, you'll have to figure it out. You could try talking to Naruto, but he's not one who teaches very well," Shikaku Sensei said. "Okay, go talk to Naruto and see if he has any wind style jutsu up his sleeve, and try and see if you can learn it. That's all I got for you."

"Okay, thanks!" I said, and I jumped up.

"Hey, wait for us, Akito," Darcy called after me. We ran as a trio down to town.

"Okay, so where would I find Naruto?" I asked, mostly to myself.

"How would we know?" Darcy asked.

"I would check Ichiraku's," Kye suggested.

"Well, that's just a brilliant idea. It's perfect in every way, there's just one itsy bitsy problem," I said sarcastically. "We don't know where it is."

"Okay, okay, you don't have to be mean about it," Kye said. "Let's ask someone."

"Look, there's Gaara!" Darcy said excitedly, running ahead of us and hugging him.

"Come on, Kye, let's go," I said, following Darcy over to the sand ninja.

"Shouldn't you guys be training?" Temari asked.

"As soon as I find Naruto, I will be," I said. "Speaking of which, do you guys know where Ichiraku's is?"

"Just go down the street, it should be at the corner, to your right," Temari said.

"Cool, thanks," I said. "What are you guys going to do?"

"Not sure yet," Darcy said.

"I guess we'll explore for a bit," Kye said. "Until we decide what we want to do about training, that is."

"Okay, see you later," I said, and I turned and ran down the street. I got to the end and found Ichiraku's, but no Naruto.

"Can I help you?" The man behind the counter asked when he saw me.

"Only if you can tell me where Naruto is," I said.

"Why do you want me?" A voice asked from right behind, making me jumb.

"Naruto, you scared me!" I said, slightly angrily.

"Sorry," Naruto said. "But why did you want me."

"Oh, I wanted to see if you knew any wind style jutsu," I explained.

"Well, I know one, the wind release Rasengan, but I thought your charka type was lightning?" He asked.

"You remembered!" I cried out, and hugged him.

"Whoa, where did that come from?" Naruto asked, hugging me back.

"That's just me really, I'm not sure why I didn't hug you the first time I saw you. But anyways, yes, my chakra type is lightning, but I want wind type chakra, just like you," I explained.

"Oh, well, okay, then," Naruto said, scratching his head. "Well, in order to learn the Wind Release Rasengan, you'll need to learn the Rasengan, first. Come on, Ramen is my treat."

"Sweet, this is like a date!" I said excitedly sitting next to him.

"Um, sure," Naruto said a little awkwardly.

We quickly ate our ramen. Naruto finished before me, and he had two bowls (I only had one).

"Okay, meet me at the training field, I have to get a few things for you," he said, running off into downtown after pointing me in the right direction.

I hurried to the training field to wait, absently wondering if Naruto would be like Kakashi Sensei and not show up for five or so hours. As I was wondering that, I saw his figure running towards me.

"Sorry it took me so long," he apologized when he reached me.

"It took you, like, ten minutes, maybe shorter," I said. "It wasn't that long of a wait, so don't worry."

"Okay, to teach you the Rasengan, I'm going to do what Pervy Sage did," Naruto explained. "So, here's a water balloon. Since you seem to be a fan of the show, I guess I don't need to explain what to do. Give it a shot."

"Okay," I said. I decided to try bursting the balloon the normal way (with one hand) before I tried it Naruto's way. I closed my eyes and focused on making my chakra spin around in random patterns. Surprisingly, the balloon burst on the first time.

"How'd you do that?" Naruto asked accusingly.

"Beginners luck?" I suggested.

"Must have been," Naruto said, handing me another water balloon. "Try it again, let's make sure it _wasn't_ beginners luck."

"Fine," I said reluctantly. I closed my eyes my eyes and focused my chakra again. The water balloon burst again.

"Fine," Naruto said. "Here's a rubber ball. You need more than speed to burst this; you need power too. Good luck, you'll need it. I was so sore after I did this part."

"Thanks, I guess," I said, taking the rubber ball. "Right, so I need power." I closed my eyes and focused my chakra, trying to spin my chakra at the same speed as before, but with more power. There was a small puncture in the ball, but that was it. The air slowly whistled out of it, and soon I had a flat rubber ball in my hand.

"No as easy as it looks, is it?" Naruto asked from the base of a tree.

"No, it's not," I said. "And it didn't look to easy to begin with."

"Hmm," Naruto said, thinking.

"What?"

"I'm just trying to figure out a way to maybe simplify it for you," he explained, pausing and scratching his head. "Well, the way Pervy Sage explained it, you need to focus. Here, let's try this." He beckoned me over taking out a pen.

"What are you doing?" I inquired.

"Look," he said. He drew a dot on the center of my hand. "When you close your eyes to focus, focus fist on the dot, then, when you think you have a clear picture of it, focus on spinning your chakra at a high and powerful speed around it. Does that help?"

"I think so," I said. I centered the ball on the dot, and closed my eyes. I made my mind a blank slate and pictured a dot right in the center. When I was ready, I imagined my chakra spinning quickly and powerfully around it. I felt my chakra obeying my images, spinning fiercely in the rubber ball.

_Focus, focus, focus_, I told myself. My chakra kept spinning, I put more power behind it, and, finally, the ball exploded.

"No freaking way," Naruto said. "You're amazing."

"Why, thank you kindly," I said, smiling up to him. Our eyes met, and it was like time was frozen around us. The only thing that existed was the two of us. And then Naruto had to ruin it.

"Um, on to the third part, then," he said, turning to pick up a balloon with just air in it. "The point of this exercise is to combine the first two exercises, power and speed, and keep them in a confined area. You don't want to break this balloon, as you know. Good luck, and if it hurts, then you're doing it right."

"Okay." I took the balloon from him, and closed my eyes for what seemed like the umpteenth time. This time, though, instead of spinning my chakra immediately, I decided to imagine the whole process first. I imagined my chakra spinning quickly and powerfully, but in a confined area, an imaginary cage. "Okay, I'm ready."

"I wasn't really asking, but okay," Naruto said. "Oh, you were talking to yourself, my bad."

I ignored him. With my eyes still closed, I was ready. I focused my chakra, spinning it quickly and powerfully, but this time, confined in an invisible cage. And it was working for a while, too. But, just as Naruto said, it was painful. Not just that, but it took a lot of focus. Almost more than what I had. But I managed. Somehow, I managed to keep the balloon intact.

"Whoa, you're actually doing it!" Naruto exclaimed. And that was all it took to lose my focus.

"Naruto! You mad me lose my focus!" I accused.

"Which means you need more training," Naruto said. "If you can't focus now while people are talking, then you'll never be able to focus in battle. Keep working on it, you'll get it, and probably a lot quicker than me. You got the first two steps in one day, it took me a few days."

"Is that so, Naruto?" A new and some what familiar voice said.

"Pervy Sage, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"I came to check on your training, and I must say, Naruto, I'm a little disappointed," Jiraiya said. "Instead of seeing you working on improving your jutsu, you're sitting under a tree watching someone train. Speaking of which, who's your new friends?" He asked looking at me in his perverted way.

"Get lost, pervert!" I yelled, punching him in the face and sending him flying.

"You sure can pack a punch," Naruto said. "Okay, try it again." He tossed me another balloon. And I did the same thing.

"Good, you're doing very well," Naruto said, and this time, the balloon didn't pop.

"Hey, I'm doing it!" I said excitedly, and the balloon still didn't pop.

"I guess you're a better teacher than I though, Naruto," Jiraiya said, rejoining us.

"Hehe, I get it all from you, Pervy Sage," Naruto said. "Okay, Akito, now you need to put it all together. It should look something like this." Naruto preformed the Rasengan on a tree, completely destroying it.

"Okay, I can do that," I said. "I think."

"Well, I have my own training to worry about, so I'll leave you to your business, and I'll come check on you later," Naruto said. "Does that sound good?"

"Okay," I said. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Yup, bye now," he said waiving. He started walking over to where Jiraiya had landed.

"Bye," I replied. "Oh, wait, Naruto!"

"Huh?" He asked, turning around.

"When will I learn the Wind Release Rasengan?" I asked.

"That all depends on when you learn the Rasengan," he said, leaving before I could reply.

"Okay," I said to myself. "Time to master the Rasengan."

**Darcy's POV:**

"What do you guys plan to do to train?" Temari asked. "The Chunin Exams are brutal, physically and, if you get Ibiki like us, mentally."

"Hmm, I'm not sure," I said contemplatively.

"Well, I think I'm going to get Shikaku Sensei to train me," Kye said. 'Yeah, that's what I'll do. See you later, Darcy." She stood up to leave.

"See you," I said. I watched her hurry off while I still thought about how I would train.

"You really should train," Gaara said. "You might not make it if you don't."

"You're worried about me?" I asked.

"Of course I am," he said. As I was looking at him, I was inspired to learn medical ninjutsu. I wanted to help my friends and teammates in anyway possible. Just because I could fight, didn't mean I wanted to.

"I've got it," I said, standing up. "I got to go, I'm going to go talk to Sakura."

"Why? What can she offer you?" Gaara asked.

"She can train me to be a medic," I said with a smile, running towards the Hokage's tower. I wasn't sure I would find her there, but I knew I could find Tsunade, and she could direct me.

**In the Hokage's Tower:**

I knocked on the closed door of the Hokage's office. I felt out of place because this was where (so I assumed) people with important business came, but I guess my business was important. Still, I was just a Genin.

"Come in," I hear Tsunade say. I reached for the handle and hesitated for a moment. I took a deep breath.

_Okay, calm down, Darcy. You need to show her you can do this with confidence._ Alright, great pep talk. NOW OPEN THE DOOR! _Okay, you don't need to yell._

I opened the door, and walked in. Well, it was more of a march, but you get the point.

"Oh, Darcy," Tsunade said. "What can I do for you?"

"I need to find Sakura," I said.

"Need to, eh? Why?" She asked.

"I want her to teach me medical ninjutsu," I said.

"Is there really a point? I mean, it takes a few years to master the basics," Tsunade said. "Sakura has been training for almost five years, and she's no expert. She can train you, but I'm just saying that it's a lot of work, and once you help us take out the Akatsuki, you'll be going home, or that's the plan anyways."

"I know, but I want to learn this," I said. "I'll work really hard, and if you think about it, there's no real point for me to go home. I never see my parents, so they won't miss me, and I can go visit them anyways."

"But what about school?" She asked.

"I've graduated high school," I said. "All that's left is college, and if you think about it, there's no point for me to go. Honestly, I make a better ninja than a student."

"And yet you want to be a medic?" She asked. "Being a ninja means fighting, being a medic means healing."

"I can fight, but I would prefer not to," I explained. "I've never liked fighting. I don't believe in it."

"I see," Tsunade said. "In that case, she can teach you the basics, and, in the case that you do decide to stay after we after we take out Akatsuki, then you can continue your training."

"Really? Thank you so much," I said bowing. "Where can I find Sakura? Or will you be training me?"

"As much as I'd love to train you, I can't. I have too much paper work to do," Tsunade said. "Sakura is working at the hospital right now. Go there and ask to see her."

"Okay, thank you again," I said. I was about to leave, but turned to ask one more question. "Where is the hospital, ma'am?"

"Come here, I'll draw you map," Tsunade said. I walked over to her desk, but when I reached her desk the door opened and in came Shizune. "Actually, Shizune can show you."

"What?" Shizune asked.

"Show Darcy to the hospital, she needs to speak with Sakura," Tsunade said.

"Right away, milady," Shizune said, holding the door opened for me. "Oh, here is the paper work you asked for." She hurriedly handed Tsunade a stack of papers.

"I didn't ask for any paper work," Tsunade said.

"I know, it just sounds better if it seems like you want to do the work," Shizune explained.

"It's just Darcy here, and she already knows I hate paper work," Tsunade defended.

"Force of habit, I guess," Shizune shrugged. "Come on, Darcy, this way."

She led me out of the office, out of the building and through the village. Well, sort of through the village. We walked along the outer path, but still in between buildings. After a while, we arrived at the hospital.

"Here you go, Darcy," Shizune said.

"Thank you," I replied and walked in the building and up to the front desk.

"How can I help you?" A woman with brown hair and a nurse's dress and hat asked.

"I need to talk to Sakura Haruno, Lady Tsunade said I could find her here," I said.

"Right this way, miss," the woman said. She walked around the desk and led me down one hall. Then another. And another. And another. And then up some stairs. And another hall. And – oh, guess what? – Another hall!

"Right here, miss." She knocked on the door, and another nurse opened it.

"Yes, Tsumi?" She asked.

"Is Sakura in here?" My guide – Tsumi – asked.

"Yes, but she's busy. Can you wait a moment?" The woman in the room asked.

"Of course," Tsumi replied.

"She'll be out in a moment." And with that, the door was shut in our faces. We stood there for what seemed like centuries, but, in reality, it was probably just five minutes. I really don't have a sense of tine.

"Hello," Sakura said opening the door. Then she saw me. "Oh, Darcy, what can I do for you?"

"I'll be going now," Tsumi said, and she turned to return to the receptionist's desk.

"I want you to train me," I declared.

"In what?" She asked.

"Medical ninjutsu," I said. I didn't move my determined (so I hoped) gaze from her eyes.

"Well, I would have to talk to Lady Tsunade," She said, leaning against the wall.

"I talked to her already," I said. "She said you could teach me the basics, but after that we have to deal with the Akatsuki. After that, if I decide to stay, you can teach me more."

"Well, in that case, I don't see a problem with it," she said. "Hold on a second." She opened the door, walked in and started talking with the same woman who answered the door. It only took a minute, and then she left. "Okay, come with me." She led me down the same path until we got down the stair. Then, instead of going straight, to where I came from, we went left, deeper into the hospital. At the end of that hall was a door with a sign. But the writing was small, so I couldn't make out what it said until I got a little closer.

"Enter with permission from Tsunade only," I read out loud.

"Yeah, it's the training area from medics," Sakura explained. She opened the door and we entered. It was just like it was in the show. There was a big pool in the center with fish in it.

Our finished work. _Really? I just see food_. Is that all you think about. _No. I also think about training. But speaking of food, what do you think is for dinner tonight? _*Mental face palm* what will I do with you? _Live with me for the rest of our lives._

"Hey, Ino," Sakura said. I didn't even see her over there training.

"What are you doing here Sakura?" Ino asked.

"Training a new medic, apparently," she replied, indicating me.

"Oh, hi, Darcy," she said, turning back to her work. "Good luck, you'll need it."

"Um, thanks, I think," I said.

"Alright, we'll start with the first step," Sakura said, leading me over to a table. She placed a scroll in front of me, and got me a small fish (I don't think they're dead because that would be impossible to heal, so maybe they're unconscious or something?).

**And, now, because I really want to update, and I have internet connection right now (and don't know when I will again, for four days, at least), I end this chapter (it was getting long anyways). Basically I (Darcy) start my medical training. The next chapter will also be a filler.**

**D: But anywho, please review; I need them to start the Chunin Exams.**

**K: But why do you have to end like this?**

**D: Because, like I said, I really want to update, and I'm sweating up a storm in the car. Seriously, I'm doing more than glistening here, people. I'm just SITTING here. **

**A: But when will you be back?**

**D: In about four days. I'm leaving to go home this Saturday.**


	6. Abridged Filler

**D: Still on vacation, so there's not much to say. So…**

**K: She don't own Naruto.**

**A: Enjoy!**

**D: Oh, Kye, you have to forgive me for not giving you a POV last chapter, so you'll get one this chapter, but it might be short…**

**K: Don't worry, you're forgiving.**

**D: Oh and I think you will love this chapter. Even if you hate it, you'll love it.**

**K: And why is that?**

**D: Not saying. All I'll say is that it involves Naruto Abridged. Oh, it looks like I said too much. Oh well. Also, any quotes that I get wrong, don't get mad please, I don't have access to the internet, and I'll be too lazy to look it up when I do have it.**

**A: Anyways, enjoy! Again…**

**Chapter Six:**

**Abridged Filler:**

**Kye's POV:**

I woke up the next day sore from my training with Shikaku Sense. Even more sore than last night (I was so sore I couldn't move, but Darcy was able to make me move… somehow). Even so, I (somehow and miraculously) managed to get out of bed. Fortunately, since none of us (me, Darcy and Akito) had pajamas, we slept in our ninja clothes (well, I did at least…). I managed to half walk, half stagger to the stairs, while using the wall to help me stand, but once I got to the stairs, I knew I was done for. I knew it a second before it happened, and I was too sore to react.

"Aw, shit," I said. A second latter, I fell, head first down the stairs. After my head hit the first step, I managed to somehow roll up into a ball to somewhat break my fall. I didn't stop rolling down the stairs, but I managed to not get hurt as much. But I made so much noise that by the time I landed and unrolled onto my back at the bottom of the stairs, everyone in the house (Shikamaru, Shikaku, Yoshina, Akito and Darcy) had gathered at the top of the stairs.

"Kye, are you okay?" Darcy cried out.

"Yes, I'm just fine and dandy. Life is full of rainbows and sunshine and – no I'm not f***ing okay!" I yelled at her.

"She's quoting Naruto Abridged, she's fine," Darcy informed everyone. Shikaku Sensei and Yoshina went downstairs, and Shikamaru tried to go back to bed, but not before Shikaku Sensei could grab him and drag him downstairs. Akito also come downstairs and went into the kitchen with the rest of the family for breakfast.

"Kabuto, pack your bags, we're going on a trip," I said as Darcy picked me off the floor and examined my head.

"Ooh, I think you hit your head pretty hard," Darcy informed me. "Or are you joking about calling me 'Kabuto'?"

"What are you talking about? You're Kabuto and I'm Orochimaru," I explained to her like I was talking to a child.

"You need to see the doctor," I said.

"Oh, God, no," I quoted.

"You are going weather you like it or not," Darcy ordered like one would a child. She grabbed my hand and pulled my through the kitchen.

"I'm taking her to Sakura, I think she hit her head really hard," Darcy announced to everyone.

"I'm coming, too," Akito chimed in, leaving her breakfast untouched. She helped Darcy by grabbing my other wrist. Together, the two girls were an unstoppable tow team.

After maybe ten minutes of painful towing, we found ourselves face-to-face (in my case face-to-back).

"Hi, Tsumi," Darcy said to the receptionist.

"Oh, hello, Darcy," she replied with a smile (I had been turned around so I could see her). "What can I do for you?"

"Well, we need Sakura to look at our friends head," Darcy explained. "You see, she slipped and hit her head and now she won't stop spouting Naruto Abridged quotes."

As if on cue, I started spouting more quotes. "What? How did you know I'm Orochimaru?'

*Long silence*

"Right," Darcy said. "You never took off your 'I am Naruto shirt'."

"I see," the nurse, Tsumi said. "Well, I won't worry about what this 'Naruto Abridged' is. But does she really think that you are Kabuto and she is –"

"Kabuto, you weren't James Bond lobbing again, where you?" I (Oro) asked.

"*Sigh* Um… Nooo," Darcy said.

"Good," I finished.

"Well, that's proof enough for me," Tsumi said. "Do you want Lady Tsunade or Sakura?"

"Tsunade! Tsunade! Tsunade!" I shouted. "I want to know her cure for asthma!"

"We already know it involves a monkey wrench," I said.

"Okay," Tsumi said, staring at us strangely. She pressed a button behind her desk and an intercom came on **(They have intercoms? Well, as put by Naruto: So, are we in the present time, or, when in the hell are we?)**. "Lady Tsunade, you are wanted at the front desk immediately. Lady Tsunade, report to the front desk immediately."

Her voice echoed through the whole reception area, along with, so I assumed, the whole building. Tsunade appeared within moments.

"What's the problem?" Tsunade asked.

"She hit her head, and now she's delusional," Darcy said, pointing to me.

"I am not, Kabuto!" I declared.

"Oh, God, now she even _sounds_ like Orochimaru," Darcy said, concern clear in her voice. Of course I was completely oblivious to this. "And now she's even referring to me as Kabuto without Naruto Abridged quotes. Please, Lady Tsunade, help!"

"Kabuto, relax," I said. "We shouldn't even be here, doctors don't help. The last one drew a pentagram on my face to heal me. What a load of bull."

"Please, milady," I said, referring to her as her subordinates do.

"Okay, let's see what I can do. She became like this after she hit her head, correct?" She asked Darcy.

"Yes, that's right," Darcy informed her.

"Okay, well, this should do the trick," Tsunade said. She raised her hand, and slapped me upside the face.

"Ow, the hell was that?" I asked, still quoting Naruto Abridged, but feeling better (minus the throbbing head).

"I healed you," Tsunade said simply.

"By drawing a pentagram on my face?" I asked.

"Ye – wait, what?" Tsunade asked.

"Sorry, Naruto abridged," I explained. I heard Darcy sight in relief. "What?"

"You're better, that's all," she said. "Wait, do you think I'm Kabuto?"

"Why the hell would I?" I asked in confusion.

"Oh, well, no reason," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "And you don't think you're Orochimaru?"

"Ew, why would I think that I was that f***ing creep?" I asked in utter disgust.

"Well," Darcy said. "You hit your head, started quoting Naruto Abridged and so I thought you were fine, and then you started calling me Kabuto. So we brought you hear."

"I see," I said. "Well, with that taken care of, what's on the agenda for today?" Just as I asked that, Naruto came running in.

"There you guys are," he cried out in excitement. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Everywhere? It's, like, seven in the morning, there aren't many places we could have gone," I told him.

"Naruto!" Akito exclaimed, hugging him fiercely. He returned the hug, not as tightly, but still caring.

"Okay, um, what did we miss?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," Akito said. "But anywho, what were you saying?"

"Oh, right, well, I've gotten everyone together, and we're going on a picnic," Naruto said. "Well, I still have to get Sakura. Where is she Granny Tsunade?"

"Tsumi, call her down, please," Tsunade said.

"Right away, milady," Tsumi said, pressing the intercom button once again. "Sakura Haruno, front desk please, Sakura Haruno, front desk."

Sakura was here within just a few minutes. "Yes, milady?" She asked.

"Naruto wants you." Tsunade indicated the hyperactive blond

"Sakura! Sakura! Sakura!" Naruto said, practically bouncing off the walls.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Come on, we're going on a picnic," Naruto said, grabbing his friends arm and pulling her with him. "I've got everyone, it'll be fun!"

"Okay, okay, okay," Sakura said, yanking her arm from his grip. "I can walk, you know."

"Okay, now let's GOOOO!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly running out the door.

"That moron," Sakura said. "Come on, we better hurry if we want to catch up with him.

**At the Picnic:**

**Darcy's POV:**

We finally made it up the mountain, bent over out of breath. We had lost Naruto somewhere in the village, so Sakura followed his chakra signature.

"Naruto," Sakura said menacingly, glaring up at him. I could tell she was about to beat the crap out of him, so I decided to intervene.

"Now, now, Sakura," I said, jumping in front of her, arms spread wide. "Let's just take a deep breath, and calm down.

"Calm down? How can I calm down when that idiot *angrily points finger at Naruto* invites all of us to a picnic and then just zooms out of sight, expecting us to follow?" She demanded.

"But we found him, right? Isn't that what matters?" I asked.

"What matters is that he get's taught a lesson!" Sakura screamed at me, forcing me out of the way, and marching to Naruto.

"Oh, boy," I muttered to myself as I watched Sakura stalk slowly and deliberately towards Naruto.

"No, Naruto!" Akito cried, jumping in front of him, arms spread.

"Akito, if I couldn't stop her, then I don't think you can," I said.

"I'll stop her," she said. "With the power of love!" Sakura stopped in her tracks.

"Well, you stopped her," I said.

"Although I don't think that's how you planed it to work," Kye said.

"Okay, now that you're calm, Sakura," Naruto said. "We just have to wait for the others to arrive."

"How long will that take?" I asked.

"Oh, is that them?" Kye asked, seeing a group of about 15 people (give or take) plus a dog where coming up the mountain hill.

"Yes, it is," Naruto said. Naruto started waiving franticly to get their attention. I saw that Sakura was about to pounce on him, so I started giving her a shoulder massage to calm her down.

"Get your hands off me," she said annoyed, storming over to sit under a tree.

"What's got her wand in a knot?" I asked. Kye and Akito looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "Sorry, I'm a Harry Potter fan, too **(seriously, I'm obsessed there was just a weekend marathon and I saw the first five, missed the sixth but that was on later, and they were the directors cut, so I assumed, cuz there was stuff that I didn't remember from the movie. Okay, Harry Potter moment over…)**."

"Whatever," Kye said.

"Look, _everyone_ is here," Akito said, and she started to point out people. "There's Tenten, Lee, Neji and Gai."

"And Kiba, Shino, Hinata and Kurenai," I said.

"And there's Ino, Shikamaru, Choji and Asuma," Kye said.

"And Sai is up there," Akito said, pointing to the sky. Sure enough, a ninja (Sai) was just jumping off of an ink bird.

"And look, Kakashi Sensei is even on time for once," I said, pointing him out.

"That's a first," Kye said.

"No, there was the one time in pre-shippuden when he wanted to meet with Sasuke and he was there first," Akito pointed out.

"That's a second," she corrected herself.

"Now that everyone's here, let's get started!" Naruto cried out in excitement. Along with the beautiful scenery, there was a ledge that looked out over a lake that we could go swimming in.

"I have to admit, I didn't think you would find such a nice place, Naruto, but this place is amazing," I said, walking over to the ledge to look out on the lake.

"Isn't it?" Tenten said. "I'm –"

"You're Tenten," I said. "I know, I know all of you. I don't know if Sakura, Naruto and the others told you, but this is a show where I'm from. And by 'this' I mean all of this Naruto stuff. All the ninja stuff and the jutsus – everything."

"Interesting," Tenten said.

"Come on guys, let's eat," Naruto called everyone over. Even Sakura joined, she seemed to have calmed down enough.

The picnic contained classic foods **(at least by my standards, it's been a while since I was on a picnic)**: potato salad, sandwiches of different sorts, chips, etc. **(this is also by American standards; I'm not quite sure what Japanese have on picnics)**.

After we ate, people broke off into different groups, but before that, everyone we 'didn't know' came to 'introduce' them selves (air quotes because we did know them, sort of).

"Well, guys, I think you know everyone," Naruto said, after the awkward introductions of 'hello, I'm *insert name here*' and 'I know, and you specialize in *insert specialization here*'.

Awkward silence.

"Awkward," I said.

"Well, anyways," Kakashi said (no more Sensei for him, he's not our teacher anymore). "How's your training?"

"It's going pretty well," I said.

"Yeah, Naruto's been teaching me change in chakra," Akito said.

"And Shikaku Sensei and been, to put in plainly, training the shit out of me," Kye said. "But I guess it will pay off. Eventually."

"And you, Darcy?" Kakashi asked me.

"Oh, I've been doing this and that," I said. "I've been spending some time with Gaara."

"Interesting," Kakashi said. "Well, since all of you girls seem to be doing well, mind if we, us Jonins that is, test you?"

"You mean you, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai and Neji?" I asked.

"Exactly," Kakashi said.

"Aw, even Neji?" Kye asked.

"Yes, Kye," Kakashi said sternly. "Now quit complaining."

"Fine," Kye said gloomily.

"I'm up for the challenge," Akito said.

"Pa-lease," I scoffed. "You can't be tougher than a sadistic S-class criminal. Who, by the way, is immortal."

"Oh, really?" Kakashi asked. By the look in his eye, I could tell he was grinning like a mad man.

"Alright, girls, fight us with the Power of Youth!" Gai commanded taking his trademark pose.

"Let's do this," Kurenai said.

"Yeah, it'll be fun," Asuma continued. Everyone looked at Neji for some sort of threat or inspiring speech or something. Instead…

"Do I _have_ to?" He asked.

"Yes, Neji, you do," Gai said. "Show them the Power of Youth!"

"Fine, but only because I have to, and I won't be showing the 'Power of youth'," Neji said, taking his Hyuga gentle fist stance.

"Aw, shit, there's no way we can beat them if they have Neji," Kye complained.

"Suck it up, he can't be stronger than Hidan," I said, although inside I was getting nervous.

"Says you, you actually FOUGTH him," she said. "Can we have Hinata?"

"No, just the three of you," Kakashi said. "Everyone, give us room. We'll need a judge, too. Sakura, if you will." He wasn't giving her much of a choice.

"Okay," she said. She stood had everyone stand by the trees and stood in the middle. "This fight will be like the ones in the Chunin Exams; it'll give you girls a good taste of what you have coming for you. Go at your opponent with the intent to kill. If a situation seems bad, I'll intervene and stop the match. Begin when ready!" As soon as she said that, she jumped out of the way and the battle commenced.

**A/N: So, for this battle, I'll be switching POV's, so try not to get too confused. I'll make it pretty clear, I just thought I'd let you know.**

**Still Darcy's POV:**

As soon as Sakura jumped out of the way, Kakashi and Gai were attacking me. Gai sent a kick to my left side while Kakashi kicked, or attempted to, my right side. Thinking quickly, I sent chakra to my feet and jumped up and out of the way. They ended up kicking each other. I was about to laugh, but they didn't give me a chance. Gai, with his intense speed zoomed behind me, attacking from behind, while Kakashi attacked from the front. Again, I jumped.

"I think it's time I go on the offense," I said, doing a bunch of back flips and landing at the edge of the cliff. I preformed a bunch of hand sings (I'm too lazy to tell them to you. If you're that curious, look 'em up), performing the Water Dragon Jutsu, sending it right at Gai's back (somehow I managed to speed by him, don't ask how though).

"Look out, Gai," Kakashi warned his friend (arch enemy?).

Gai got out of the way just in time.

"She's just like Kisame," Gai said.

"Ew, don't you dare compare me to the hideous fish freak!" I said threateningly.

"I didn't think I would have to use this, but you really have gotten good," Kakashi said, moving his hand up to his forehead protector.

I gulped and got ready.

**Kye's POV:**

Sakura began the battle, got out of the way, and Asuma and Kurenai were running at me.

_Okay, don't panic. You know Kurenai uses genjutsu and you know that Asuma uses those hand knife thingies that conduct chakra. So what's the plan, Jade? __**Why the hell are you asking me? I'm the irrational side.**__ My bad, I forgot. Well, when in doubt, the best defense is a good offense, right? Or is it the other way around? Oh, well, I'll just attack._

I drew my katana and blocked Asuma's chakra blades just in time. With alarming speed (alarming not only my opponents but also myself) I quickly jumped behind Kurenai and hit the back of her head with the hilt of one of my katana. Now I just had to deal with Asuma.

**Akito's POV:**

"Great, I get to fight Neji," I muttered under my breath as I tried to stay hidden form his byakugan. Was that even possible? Dude this was SO NOT awesome. And I SOOO don't mean excellent. Do a guitar solo and I'll rip your head off.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!" How the hell I managed to escape that, I will NEVER know. I drew three kunai and tossed them at him, and he performed Eight Trigrams: Rotation (shocker).

We exchanged blows (sort of). He would try to hit me, I would dodge, I would try to throw a weapon at him and he would dodge. Finally, when I was out of breath and about to give up, I remembered my sward. I drew it, sending my lightning-type chakra through the blade. As Neji ran towards me, I swung, not thinking of consequences. As the blade was about to pierce his shoulder, he maneuvered his hand around and used it the nock away not only my lightning chakra, but also the blade. I was fortunate enough to have gotten a blade that won't break, like, at all. It was awesome. No, excellent. Okay, cue guitar solo.

I sent a few more blows at Neji before he managed to knock my sword out of my hand. His hand came right for my heart, and I was too exhausted to move. I was lucky; he didn't actually plan to kill me, for his hand stopped right before he hit me.

"Good job," he said. "I'm impressed."

I nodded, to breathless to have any words to say.

**A/N: Sorry, Akito, of that was too short for you, but tell me an Akatsuki member you want to beat the crap out of and I'll give you and epicly epic battle with him/her. It can't be Hidan or Itachi. Or anyone else Kye wasn't to complain about. Oh, and it can't be Kelsey, you can help me beat the crap out of her, but she'll mostly be mine. Anywho, on with the story.**

**Darcy's POV:**

Kakashi lifted his forehead protector from his eye, and, with out warning, he charged right for me, Gai at his side. The first thing I thought of doing was jumping, jumping backwards to be more specific. I landed gracefully on the water, while the two men flew right over me and face planted the water. It was funny, to say the least.

"You jokers give up yet?" I asked as the surface from the water.

"The Power of Youth never gives up!" Gai proclaimed standing up on the water.

"Um, sure, what he said," Kakashi said half-heartedly, standing up besides his teammate.

"Why'd I get stuck with the weirdos?" I muttered under my breath, but obviously not quiet enough, for the two ninja managed to hear me.

"Weird? You're calling us weird?" Kakashi asked. "You're the one dating Gaara."

"At least he has looks," I said.

"You can't take that, Gai Sensei!" Lee cheered. "Use the Power of Youth!"

"Oh, would you two shut up about that?" I asked. "Seriously, Lee, it was really just luck that Tsunade was able to heal you. Shut up about youth when what saved you was luck. You could be working at WallMart right now!"

"What?" Lee asked confused.

"Oh, never mind," I said, returning my attention to the battle at hand.

Obviously I couldn't use ninjutsu, it would be hard enough to use regular taijutsu, with Kakashi's Sharingan activated, but the best I could muster was taijutsu. I charged them, kicking and punching randomly. It's no wonder I ended up with a kunai to my neck.

**Kye's POV:**

After I knocked out Kurenai, I went for Asuma. I expertly swung my katana in intricate patterns for no particular reason. Asuma managed to block, but I was finally able to knock his knives from his hands. I swung by blades around and stopped them at the exact position you would place swards to cut off someone's head.

In the end, I was the only one to win.

"Ha! I won and you didn't!" I gloated at Darcy. "Looks like you are all talk Miss I-Beat-Hidan! HA!"

"Okay, okay, okay," she said, sounding annoyed. "You don't have to keep rubbing it in!"

"Oh, but I do," I said. "**I really, really do!**" Jade added for me. Darcy took a step back and then quickly ran to Gaara (he and his siblings showed up sometime during the fight). She was hugging him, apparently scared of me.

"See, Jade, this is why we have no friends," I scolded her. "**Oh, shut it. At least we're unique!** What ever you say."

**D: There you have it. What did you think? Did you love it, did you hate it? Is it funny? Should I make it funnier? If so, how can I do that? Suggestions and constructive criticism are always welcome.**

**K: You were right, it was epicly epic.**

**D: Of course I was right, I'm the author.**

**A: Personally, I wanted more screen time, buuut…**

**D: Yeah, sorry about that, but like I said, who, it the Akatsuki, would you like to beat the s**t out of?**

**A: Hmmm… I'll tell you later.**

**D&K&A: REVIEW PELASE, WE LUVS IT! **


	7. Date Night

**D: Okay, here's the next chapter.**

…

**D: There isn't much to say. I don't own Naruto… And, sadly, nor do I own Gaara or Hidan or Shikamaru or… Oh, well, you get the point.**

**Chapter Seven:**

**Date Night:**

**Akito's POV:**

**The Same Day as the Picnic:**

"That was on intense picnic," I said.

"That's an understatement," Darcy said.

"I don't know what you two are complaining about," Kye said.

"Of course you don't," I said.

"You won your fight," Darcy continued.

We were all sitting on a very large picnic blanket that managed to hold all twenty one (twenty-two plus Akamaru).

"Hehe, I still don't get how you lost, Darcy," she said.

"Don't rub it in," she said, standing up and stalking over to the cliff to watch the sunset. She sat down and let her feet dangle over the edge. It only took a second before Gaara followed her over.

"**She's such a wimp; don't you think so, Kye?** Don't be rude, Jade," Kye aid to herself.

"You know, I still haven't gotten used to that," I said.

"Gotten used to what?" Kye asked.

"You talking to yourself," I said.

"I don't talk to myself," Kye said. "Jade is an alter ego of mine, and can't be technically classified as me."

"Yes she can," I said.

"**Little Akito here has a point**," Jade said for Kye. "Just whose side are you on, anyways? **The winning side**. Which is? **Right now, Akito.** Gee, thanks a lot. **Anytime**."

"Well, if you guys are done arguing with yourselves," Akito said. "We need a plan for the Chunin Exams."

"What do you mean?" Kye asked. "**I assume she means for the written part. We need to cheat on it. So how do you propose we do that, Akito? **Oh, so now you're taking over my conversations, too?"

"Just drop it, Kye," I said. "Well, honestly, I was hoping you had some ideas. We should wait to discus this with Darcy. As you can see, she's a bit preoccupied at the moment." With that everyone (and not just me and Kye/Jade, all of the ninja too) looked over at the cliff where Darcy and Gaara sat. They were making out. Passionately.

"Lucky," Kye said, turning away and crossing her arms. "I wish Itachi was here to do that with me. **Itachi? Are you crazy, bitch? We need Sasuke!** Sasuke? Okay, now you're the crazy one. **Am not!** Are too!** Am not! **Are –"

"Enough!" I shouted at her. "Seriously, have these arguments else where, everyone will think you're insane.

"**Too late for that now**," Jade said. "Oh, shut it. It's your fault they think that."

"Oi," I said exasperated, slapping my forehead.

"Ahem," Kakashi said, getting everyone's attention. "Well, it's getting late. We should all head home." It was then that we all noticed the beautiful sunset.

"Yeah, and Gaara needs a good nights sleep for his meeting with Tsunade tomorrow," Temari said. We all looked over at the two. They had stopped kissing and where now standing and facing each other.

"It looks like they're arguing," Temari said standing up. "Come on, Kankuro, we need to stop this."

"Aw, why do I have to help?" He asked.

"Because he's your brother," Temari said, grabbing his arm. "And when girls get angry, you don't want to get in their way."

"Exactly, so I shouldn't have to help," Kankuro concluded.

"No, you need to help you brother before he get's his head ripped off," Temari corrected.

"Fine," Kankuro sighed in defeat.

"Come on, guys, let's go watch," I said.

"Don't you mean help?" Sakura asked.

"No, no, I mean watch," I said and I got up to follow.

"What the hell is your problem, Gaara?" I heard Darcy shout.

"I don't have a problem, you do!" Gaara yelled back at her. "I can't believe you actually think you could beat me in a fight? I could kick your ass! Any time, any place!"

"Oh yeah? How about right here and right now?" Darcy asked.

"No way, I don't want to fight my girlfriend," Gaara said.

"Right, cause you're afraid of me?" Darcy taunted.

"That's not it," Gaara said. Obviously he was trying to calm her down. And obviously, it wasn't working. "I just don't want to fight my girlfriend. A fight could get in the way of our relationship."

"Oh, you mean like this argument we're having right now?" Darcy put her hand s on her hips and waited expectantly for an answer.

"Yes, exactly like this," he said. "So can we stop arguing and make up?"

"How about we stop arguing and brake up," she said. And then she turned and ran away, pushing her way through group. I could have sworn I saw her crying.

"Way to go, Gaara," Kankuro said sarcastically. "You sure have a way with the ladies."

"Shut it, Kankuro," Gaara said. I could tell he was upset, but apparently he was too much of a man to let out any tears. Temari could see this, too.

"Come on, Gaara, let's get you home," she said, wrapping an arm around her little brother. "You have an important meeting with the Hokage tomorrow." Everyone started to clear up and clean up the picnic except for me, Kye, and Naruto.

"Hey, Akito!" Naruto called me over. I hurried over to him excitedly.

"Yeah?" I asked expectantly with a bright smile on my face.

"Well, I was wondering, I mean, I know we just spent the whole day together and all, but, um, would you like to, you know, um –" He was stuttering so I interrupted him.

"I would _love_ to go on a date with you," I told him and he perked up immediately. "Ichirakus?"

"Yeah, come on," he took my arm, but before we could go anywhere, Kye was in front of us.

"Don't you think you should be comforting Darcy?" She asked angrily, hands on her hips.

"Nah, you can do that, Kye," I said. "I have a date with Naruto."

"You're not being a very good friend," she said.

"Maybe you should go comfort her," Naruto said. "She was dating him for, like, a year. This has got to be hard. We can reschedule our date."

"No!" I cried out. "I mean, I'll comfort her later, okay? Oh, please let me go out, Kye?"

"Fine, but bring her back some chocolates or something," Kye ordered before marching off back home.

"Okay, let's go," Naruto said, pulling me with him. "My treat."

"Oh, it better be," I said.

We hurried down to the glittering street of Konoha.

"Wow, it's gorgeous!" I exclaimed in pure wonder. "It never looked like this in the show!"

"Well, that's because it's the real deal," Naruto said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

We hurried to Ichirakus to eat our ramen.

"How you doing, Naruto?" The chef asked.

"Great, I got a date, too!" Naruto bragged.

"Oh, who's the lucky lady?" He asked, noticing me for the first time. "I haven't seen you around here before.

"My name is Akito," I said. "I'm, uh, new around here."

"Well, it's good to have you," he said. "What would you two like?"

"How does miso ramen sound?" He asked me, and I nodded excitedly. Anything with him sounded good. Oh, don't get the wrong idea by that. You all know what I mean. Just being with him is good enough. Soon we got our ramen and we dug in. Two (or three in Naruto's case) bowls later, Naruto paid the bill and we got up to leave.

"I'll walk you home," he said, taking my arm again.

"Aw, but it's not that late yet," I complained.

"Well, what do you want to do?" He asked.

"Well, I should go buy some chocolates fro Darcy," I said, pondering what there was to do in the Leaf Village. "But besides that… What is there to do in the Leaf Village?"

"Hmm, let me think about that while we get chocolate for Darcy," Naruto said, leading me to a general store.

I ran into the store to look for chocolate so quickly, that I didn't notice that I had lost Naruto somewhere in the store.

"Huh, where's Naruto?" I asked, and then I shrugged my shoulders. I found a box of those chocolates that had a variety of different chocolate (chocolate covered peanuts, chocolate with orange filling, all the good stuff.) I hurried up to the cash register to pay for them. I wasn't going to ask Naruto to do that since they were a gift for Darcy from me, not from him. Once I paid, I went outside, thinking that's where he would be.

"Huh, he's not out here," I said, looking around in confusion.

"Yes, I am," he said surprising me. "I'm right here." He was behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and I saw a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

"Oh, they're beautiful, Naruto!" I said excitedly, taking them. I turned around in his arms and, with out thinking, kissed him full on the lips. We made out there for a good two minutes before we slowly pulled away. We stared into each others eyes for a few minutes, just smiling at each other.

"Be my girlfriend?" He asked.

"Yes!" I hugged him tightly.

"Okay," he said. "But I think it's time I get you home. You need to comfort your friend."

"Yeah, you're right," I said.

"Come on," He said, taking my chocolates and putting them in my bag (when did I get that, again? I guess I always had it). He proceeded to take my hand and we ran back to the Nara clan compound. We ran through the glittery streets of Konoha and, once we got on the forest path to the Nara clan compound, the glittery stars of the night sky. When we got close to my house we slowed to a walk.

"It's a beautiful night," Naruto said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "The perfect end to the perfect day." We had reached the front porch.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow for training," Naruto said. "Wind Release Rasengan."

"Yeah," I said. We were about to kiss when the door flew opened.

"Oh, Akito, dear, you're home," Yoshino said happily.

"Uh, yes, ma'am," I said smiling at her.

"You can go home now, Naruto," she said.

"Of course," Naruto said. "Good night, Akito."

"Night," I said as he walked away and mentally preparing for Yoshino to lose her façade and become her usually crabby self.

"Get in here now, young lady," Yoshino's harsh voice cut through the peace of the night. She grabbed my shoulder and pulled me in roughly.

"Come now, Yoshino," Shikaku Sensei said when we entered the kitchen. "She's a guest, treat her nicely."

"Guests stay for a day or two," Yoshino said. "She's been here for almost two weeks. Besides," she turned her attention to me. "You have friend crying her eyes out upstairs. Go up there now and comfort her."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," I said.

"Shikamaru had to go in there and help her," Yoshino informed me.

"Oh," I said. But she ignored me and continued ranting.

"And what are you doing? You're on a date! A DATE!" She yelled at me. "Get upstairs now!"

"Okay, okay," I said. "I did bring her chocolates." I showed her the box as I hurried out of the room and upstairs. I knocked on Darcy's door and Shikamaru opened the door.

"Oh, thank God!" He said. "Get in there and help her. I don't know how much more I can take. I'm sorry for her and all, but seriously, this is a girl's job."

"Sorry, Shikamaru," I apologized and quickly came in. I hurried over and gave Darcy a huge hug. "Sweetie, I'm so sorry!"

"I-I-it's *sniff* o-o-okay," she said between sobs. "H-how was your d-d-d-date?" At the last word (date) she burst into more tears.

"Oh, it was so –" but I stopped when Kye shot a glare at me. I was going to say 'wonderful', but I changed my mind and said something else. "Miserable. It was just horrible. Here, I got you some chocolate."

"Really?" She asked, look up from her hands (she was sobbing into them). "Thanks *sniff*. You guys are the best."

"I got it!" Kye said. Both Darcy and I looked at her quizzically. "Tomorrow, we'll get a bunch of girls together and go shopping!"

"That sounds like fun," Darcy said. It seemed that she had calmed down.

"But I'm supposed to train with Naruto tomorrow," I complained.

"**Then cancel!**" Jade ordered me.

"Y-yes, ma'am!" I said. Darcy let out a little giggle.

"Normally I would yell at you for laughing at me," I said. "But not today, I'm just glad to see a smile on your face."

"Thanks, guys," she said, giving both me and Kye a huge group hug. "You're the best. Let's go to bed so that we can go shopping tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan," Kye said with a smile.

"Definitely," I said. "Oh, and, can I have a chocolate."

"Akito!" Kye shouted, hitting my arm.

"Ow!" I cried out hitting her back.

"Hahahahah," Darcy laughed. "Sure, just don't take the ones with orange filling."

"Aw, those are the best," I complained. I chose a chocolate covered peanut. "Okay, I'm happy. Good night!" I stood up with Kye.

"G'night, hon," Kye said.

"Night, see you two in the morning," Darcy waved to us until we left. Kye and I went to our rooms for a good night's sleep. It had been a long day.

**D: Aw, Gaara and I broke up! *Sniff* Why Gaara, why? Actually, to be honest, I laughed when I wrote that part. Is that bad?**

**K: Aw, I'm sorry, Darc.**

**A: Me too, but Naruto and I had a wond – er, um, miserable time together.**

**Naru: You really think that, Akito?**

**A: *Whisper's in Naru's ear* No, but it'll make Darcy feel better. **

**Naru: *Whisper's in A's ear* Oh, okay, gotcha.**

**D: Okay, review! Next chappie will be the girls' shopping trip. YAY!**


	8. Feel Better Shopping Trip

**D: So, after the very sad event last chapter, it's time to cheer me up :D Yay, it's all about me!**

**A: Yup Yup Yup!**

**K: That's right, it is! **What about us? Don't we matter?** Jade, Darcy just broke up with Gaara, we can't worry about us. **Don't you want Sasuke? **Um… No, not really. I want Itachi! **Are you crazy?

**D: Okay, while Kye argues with herself, let's start the story.**

**Chapter 8:**

**Feel Better Shopping Trip:**

**Darcy's POV:**

I woke up around nine A.M. in a daze. It took me a few seconds to remember what was going on today, but when I did I jumped up and got dressed (I finally got pajamas. They were short grey shorts and a neon green tank top) into my ninja outfit. I picked up the long sleeved black shirt and remembered who gave it to me. My whole body trembled, but I stopped myself before I could cry. This was my feel better day, and I wasn't going to start of crying. I hurried to the closet and tossed it into the back, and then hurried to get dressed. Once I was dressed I walked downstairs. Yoshino, Shikaku, Kye, Akito, and, surprisingly, Shikamaru were all downstairs eating breakfast already. It was silent as I entered and everyone started at me. I gulped and stood in the door way.

"What do you want for breakfast, sweetie?" Yoshino asked.

"Oh, um, I'm not that hungry," I said.

"Eggs it is then," Yoshino said, returning to the stove. I started to walk over to the table to sit in between Kye and Akito when the worst possibly thing could happen.

"So, you over Gaara yet?" Shikamaru asked bluntly. I stopped dead in my tracks, my eyes wide. My breath caught and my mouth was partially open. I was barely able to see Kye through a kunai that landed dangerously close to Shikamaru's hand because my vision was slowly blurring because of the tears forming in my eyes. I started to hyperventilate.

"Shut your mouth, Shikamaru, or I'll shut it for you," Kye threatened as she ran to my side. "Sorry, Yoshino, but she's not having breakfast. We need to get her away from the heatless as soon as possible. Come on, Akito, we have to gather the girls."

"Have a good day!" Yoshino called after us. Before we left the house, we heard a loud thump.

"Ow! Mom, what was that for?" Shikamaru cried out.

"For being a thoughtless, cruel man!" Yoshino yelled at him. "Now, eat!"

Kye and Akito pushed me away from the house, telling random complements and how Shikamaru didn't know shit about anything.

"Okay," Kye said when we reached Konoha. "Shopping time. But first, we have to get all the girls. Come on." Kye dragged grabbed my arm and hurried me forward, Akito close behind us.

"Kye, where are going," I asked in a week voice.

"You'll see," she said. Soon, we arrived at the Hyuga residence. In the court yard Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Neji, TenTen, and Lee sat talking about who knows what. They looked up when they heard us coming.

"Oh, Darcy," TenTen said, standing up (they were all sitting on the porch/ground). Hinata did the same. All the guys, though they looked sympathetic, clearly didn't want to deal with a heartbroken girl, so they just looked at the ground.

"We're going on a shopping spree to cheer up Darcy," Kye announced.

"Aw man, us too?" Kiba complained.

"No, you idiot, it's a girls only shopping spree," Kye said.

"Seriously, that last thing she need is a guy ruining the day," Akito chimed in.

"Alright," TenTen said. "I love shopping!"

"We should go find Sakura, Ino, and Temari, then," Hinata said quietly. "They'll probably be at the training fields, well, Sakura and Ino probably will be."

"Then let's go!" Kye said. I knew she was faking the enthusiasm just for me, but it was working, so I didn't complain. We reached the training fields to see Ino and Sakura yelling at each other. Shocker.

"Hey, guys," Kye said.

They ignored her.

"Are the ignoring me?" She asked. "**Yes, I believe they are."**

"Oh, hey guys," Naruto said as he, Sai, Shikamaru, and Choji came over. All of them looked at me with sympathy, but that was about it. We all stood there awkwardly while Kye tried to no avail to get the attention of Ino and Sakura.

"**Kye, sweetie, let me**," Jade offered to Kye. "**Hey, bitches! Shut the hell up and listen to Kye!** Aw, thanks! **No prob, girl**."

"What?" Sakura and Ino asked looking our way.

"We're going shopping to make Darcy feel better," Kye explained.

"Count me in!" Sakura said happily.

"Me too! I love shopping!" Ino enthusiastically agreed.

"Great, let's go find Temari," Kye said.

"Okay, I know where they're staying," Sakura said. "Temari and Kankuro are staying there the whole day because He has a meeting, so don't worry. We'll find her and we wont' see Him."

I was glad they weren't using His name. Halfway to where the sand siblings were staying, Kye decided since it was nearly lunch time (says her stomach) that everyone except her self and me should go get a seat at the restaurant we decided to eat at. Everyone agreed. But Sakura decided to come with us so we didn't get lost (good thinking on her part.

"Here we are," she said. "Darcy, wit out here incase He is in there."

"Okay," I said, putting on a fake smile for them. They knocked on the door and Kankuro opened it. He beckoned them in and, with a quick 'we'll be right back', the followed him.

Everything was going great until He showed up. He stood in front of me, neither of us speaking.

"Darcy, I –" He started, but was interrupted by the front door opening.

"Gaara!" Temari said with fake excitement. "Good, you're home, lunch is ready. Hurry up and eat and prepare for your next meeting with Lady Tsunade."

"Right," he said.

"Okay, I'm going out for a while, see you at dinner," Temari told him and Kankuro. "Let's go."

"What happened? What did he say?" Kye asked me.

"Just 'Darcy, I', then you guys came out," I told them.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"I'm fine, why do you ask?" I asked her.

"Well, you're speaking in a monotone, and you have this really dead look on your face," Sakura explained to me.

"Oh, that," I said, still in a monotone. "It's like my protective shell; I've been trying to perfect it so I won't cry."

"It'll be okay," Sakura said, putting her arm around me.

We hurried the restaurant that we were eating at and ate our lunch quickly. No one spoke until we were waiting for the bill to come.

"I know you don't want to talk about this, Darcy," Kye started. "But, we need to know what Gaara said to you to cause you two to break up. You were so cute together!"

"That's not helping," I said. "Besides, why do you need to know?"

"Well, we need to know if we need to go beat the crap out of him, or if we need to make you go back to him and get down on one knee and beg for his forgiveness," Kye explained.

"_I_ am not going to apologize for what _he_ did!" I told her.

"So what did he do?" Akito asked.

"He said I was weak and stupid," I said.

"He did not!" Kye said dramatically.

"He did to," I replied. "First he said I was stupid for facing off against Hidan not once, but twice, and then he indirectly said I was weak by saying I could beat him in a fight. Not even hold my own against him. Um, hello, did he see me decapitate and S-class criminal?"

"Okay, when we're done shopping, who wants to come beat the crap out of him with me?" Kye asked.

"I'm in," Akito said.

"As am I," TenTen said.

"Us to," Sakura indicated her self and Ino.

"What about you, Temari?" Kye asked.

"If it were any other guy, then I'd help, but since it's my brother…" She trailed off, letting us fill in the blank.

"Fine, be that way," Kye huffed.

"Here's your bill," the waitress said.

"I'll pay for this, guys," I said. "Look, you guys can each buy me something when we're shopping, but this really isn't that much that much. I don't care." They all agreed, and we left once I paid (we _had_ been doing missions. What did you think we had been doing? Sitting around twiddling our thumbs?) and headed to the Konoha Mall.

"Hey, guys, I thought you didn't have malls here," I commented.

"We didn't, but once we came back from your world, I talked to Lady Tsunade, and she had one built," Sakura explained.

"Gaara got one in Suna, too," Temari added, but instantly regretted it. They all stopped and waited for me to burst into tears, but I didn't.

"What?" I asked, turning to look at them. I put a fake, and very unbelievable, smile onto my face. "Look, guys, it's not my style to cry in public. I hate people's pity. Seriously, don't you guys hate it when complete strangers come up to and are all like 'aw, is there anything we can do for you'? It's like the pity is dripping from their voices." They still just stood there looking at me. "Hey, come on, guys, let's just go shop, okay?"

"Yeah," everyone agreed at once, and we hurried in. We found a clothing store and started looking around. After a while, Sakura and Ino said that they would be right back cause they had some stuff to do.

"Okay, girl, first things first," TenTen started.

"A new outfit," Temari finished.

"Oh, yay!" I said excitedly.

"Okay, now, let's see here," Temari said, browsing the pants on display. "Here we go." She pulled out a pair of black Capri's. "Okay, now for a shirt."

"One question," I said. Temari looked at me. "Can I keep my shoes?"

"Sure," Temari said.

"How's this?" TenTen asked, coming over to us holding a black shirt that would show my stomach.

"Cute, try it on," Temari ordered. I took the clothes and tried them on. I came out and did a little spin, showing off my new outfit.

"You look adorable!" TenTen squealed.

"Thank you," I said, taking a little bow.

"Wow, cute," Sakura complimented coming in.

"Yeah, I'll say," Ino agreed.

"So where were you two?" I asked.

"We have a surprise for you," Ino said.

"Look," Sakura held up a diamond shaped blue crystal attached to a thin metal wire.

"What is it?" I asked as she put it on me.

"It's a chakra necklace. At a slow but steady rate, the necklace will take some of your chakra and store it," Sakura explained. "But the rate is so slow that your chakra will be full when you get in a battle. It'll be very helpful."

"Thanks," I said.

"Now there's only one thing left to do," Kye said.

"What's that?" I asked. _Don't say get a new man, don't say get a new man._

"We need to get you a new man!" She said excitedly.

_Of course_. Hey, you kind of had that coming. _Shut up_.

"So, who do you wanna date?" She asked.

"That's nice of you to offer, but I really don't want to date anyone right now," I said. "I need to get over G-Gaara." My voice broke on his name.

"Okay, fine," Kye said in defeat. She didn't seem to notice my slip up; no one did. "So what's next?"

"I think that's enough shopping for one day," I said. "I'm going home."

"You sure?" Kye asked.

"Seriously, if you don't want to shop anymore, we could train or go do a mission," Akito suggested.

"Thanks, but I want to be alone right now," I said. All the girls, except for Sakura, Ino, and Akito, paid for my outfit and I wore it out of the store. I loved it, and it would be my new ninja outfit. I had my old clothes in a bag and my ninja tools attached to my leg.

I know I told my friends I was going home, and originally, I was, but something changed my mind. In a few minutes, I found myself at the cliff where Gaara and I broke up. I sat down and stared at the lake. The flashbacks came to me and it was like they were on the water.

_"Today was a fairytale,_

_You were the prince,_

_I used to be a damsel in distress"_

_"Time slows down,_

_Whenever your around!_

_But can you feel this magic in the air,_

_It must have been the way you kissed me!_

_Fell in love when I saw you standing there,_

_It must have been the way,_

_Today was a fairytale!_

_It must have been the way,_

_Today was a fairytale!"_

_"Can you stop that?" Gaara finally asked._

_"Stop what?_

_"Stop singing!"_

_"Why?"_

_"Because you can't sing, that's why!"_

_"I know that we have to study for finals tomorrow after school, but," Gaara paused. I just realized that we had stopped moving, and that we were now staring into each others eyes. In the anime, his eyes had always looked so empty, so you can imagine my surprise when I__saw__something in them. It's not like I saw a bug or something moving in his eyes... wait, maybe that was a bug... no, no, it was definitely something... else. I guess this is what it means to look into some one's soul. I waited for him to continue, but he didn't._

_I gulped, and ventured forward myself. Not much, just enough to nudge him to venture forward. No way in hell was I going to start anything here. It's not that I didn't want to, it's just that, well, I guess it seemed weird. "Yes?" I asked tentatively._

_"After school, instead of studying, do want to maybe see a movie?" He asked._

_"Like, a date?" I asked.__Oh, please say yes, please say yes!__I though over and over again._

_"Yes, like a date," he said, and attempted a smile. I gave him a big grin._

_He gave me a kiss on the cheek._

The flashback faded with our first kiss (the real one), and that's when I realized that the flashbacks really were on the water. How as that? A kekkei genkai or something? What the hell kind of blood line was that? Maybe it worked more than just memories, maybe it worked for thoughts too.

_What do you think?_ I think you should try it. _Exactly what I was thinking._ Gee, I wonder why…

"Hmm, but what to think about," I thought out loud. "Oh, how about my friends. Yeah, that should work." I closed my eyes and thought of all the girls that I spent my day with. When I opened them, there they were. "Wicked cool."

"Is that a new jutsu?" A voice I didn't want to hear asked. I spun around and there stood the red-haired, sky blue-eyed hunk I didn't want to see. Why did he have to be so good looking?

"No, er, um, maybe, I-I don't know," I stuttered.

"What, is it some sort of kekkei genkai?" He asked.

"Who knows?" I asked.

"You should," he replied.

"And how would I know? I'm stupid, apparently," I told him.

"I didn't mean brain-dead stupid," he replied, taking a few steps closer to me. I took the same amount as he did backwards. "I meant lacking in common sense stupid." He stepped closer

"What's the diff, you still called me stupid," I said. I stepped backwards.

"And I wish I could take it back," he said. He came closer.

"So, if you don't say it, you still think it," I said, stepping back more. But I was out of space. My heel hit the edge of the cliff. I thought I saw all of the girls plus their teammates, but I wasn't sure. Gaara was blocking my view, for he was right in front of me, his hands on my shoulders.

"Darcy, I'm really sorry," he said. "I was wrong, and you and I both know that. Boys are like dogs."

"What's the supposed to mean?" I asked, trying to get away from him without falling off the cliff.

"We're loyal and impulsive," he said (**A/N: I'm making this up, but it's probably true. No offense to any guys reading this…**).

"Bull shit," I said. That did it.

"Well, here's proof," he said, and he pushed me off the cliff, falling into the water with me. We surfaced together, me gasping for air.

"What the hell was that?" I yelled, spitting the last of the water out of my system.

"Pushing you was the impulse," he said. "But I never let go of you. That was the loyalty."

I was about to yell some witty response back at him when I realized he was right. But I wouldn't admit it. He hurt me, and it was going to take a lot more than that to woo me back into his arms.

"Then what do I have to do?" He asked. I looked him quizzically, and he nodded at the water, where what I had just thought was written on the water.

_Damn it_, I thought.

"That's not lady-like," he scolded.

"Shut the hell up you fuzz bag," I said, resisting the urge to laugh at the Naruto Abridged quote. I wrenched myself from his grasp and swam to the shore.

It turned out I did see everyone, and it also turned out that they were gathered at the shore. Everyone meaning boys and girls. The boys were looking at the ground or anywhere but me, and the girls were all trying to help me out of the water and make sure I was okay.

"For the last freaking time: I'M OKAY!' I shouted to them.

"Okay, you don't need to yell," Kye complained.

"Yes, Kye, I do, because you guys wouldn't listen to me the first hundred times," I said.

"Sorry, we just wanted to make sure you were okay," Sakura said.

"Yeah," Ino agreed.

"Is there anything we can do?" TenTen asked.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe leave me alone?" I asked rudely. "Kye, Akito, we're going home. You too, Shika!" (**A/N: I'm gonna call him this from now on cause I'm lazy and I don't wanna type his whole name out anymore**).

"Fine," they all said in unison.

We hurried home for dinner and that was that. After dinner everyone one (Akito, Kye, Shika, and I) headed to bed. Once Shika was gone, I took advantage and dragged the girls into my room.

"You guys, I just discovered something wicked cool," I said.

"Oh, what?" Kye asked.

"More chocolate?" Akito asked.

**D: You wanna know what I discovered? That you'll have to wait until next chapter to discover what I discovered :D**

**A: Aw, that's mean!**

**K: Seriously, Darcy!**

**D: You guys, I just broke up with my boyfriend, and that's all you can say?**

**A: Aw, sorry.**

**K: Well I'm not! You can't keep using that as your excuse forever!**

**D: No, but I can for about a week or two more.**

**K: Fine, Darcy, you win this round.**

**D: Of course I do. Anyways, review and I won't kill you :D You guys are so luck!**


	9. Kekkei Genkai

**D: I wanted to end the last chapter with a cliff hanger, but I realized later that it wasn't much of a cliff hanger. In my defense, I was tired and I wanted to update, so…. Yeah.**

**A: So, with out further ado, she owns nothing. Now read!**

**Chapter Nine:**

**Kekkei Genkai:**

"What? Are you serious?" Kye asked.

"Yup," I said.

"That's so cool!" Akito said. "Hey, Kye, do you think we have kekkei genkai too?"

"Who knows," Kye said thoughtfully. "How'd you figure out your gift?"

"Well, I was thinking abut Gaara, and I realized that all of the memories where on the surface of the lake," I said. "I mean, the Sharingan is activated because of stressful or emotional conditions (**A/N: I honestly don't know if that's true, but I assume it's like that because the Sharingan is so powerful)**, right? And I was dealing with a break up, so it makes sense that my kekkei genkai would appear, right?"

"I guess that makes sense," Kye said.

"So, does it work on any surface, or just water?" Akito asked.

"Well, let's see," I said, turning to the wall. I thought to my self the cliché words people used when testing a microphone. When I opened my eyes _Testing, testing_ was written on the wall.

"'Testing, testing'?" Kye asked.

"Was that the best you could come up with?" Akito asked.

"Well, hey, it worked," I said. "Let me show you what happened last night." And with that, images of me and Gaara shone on the wall.

"_Is that a new jutsu?" A voice I didn't want to hear asked. I spun around and there stood the red-haired, sky blue-eyed hunk I didn't want to see. Why did he have to be so good looking?_

"_No, er, um, maybe, I-I don't know," I stuttered._

"_What, is it some sort of kekkei genkai?" He asked._

"_Who knows?" I asked._

"_You should," he replied._

"_And how would I know? I'm stupid, apparently," I told him._

"_I didn't mean brain-dead stupid," he replied, taking a few steps closer to me. I took the same amount as he did backwards. "I meant lacking in common sense stupid." He stepped closer_

"_What's the diff, you still called me stupid," I said. I stepped backwards._

"_And I wish I could take it back," he said. He came closer._

"_So, if you don't say it, you still think it," I said, stepping back more. But I was out of space. My heel hit the edge of the cliff. I thought I saw all of the girls plus their teammates, but I wasn't sure. Gaara was blocking my view, for he was right in front of me, his hands on my shoulders._

"_Darcy, I'm really sorry," he said. "I was wrong, and you and I both know that. Boys are like dogs."_

"_What's the supposed to mean?" I asked, trying to get away from him without falling off the cliff._

"_We're loyal and impulsive," he said (__**A/N: I'm making this up, but it's probably true. No offense to any guys reading this…**__)._

"_Bull shit," I said. That did it._

"_Well, here's proof," he said, and he pushed me off the cliff, falling into the water with me. We surfaced together, me gasping for air._

"_What the hell was that?" I yelled, spitting the last of the water out of my system._

"_Pushing you was the impulse," he said. "But I never let go of you. That was the loyalty."_

_I was about to yell some witty response back at him when I realized he was right. But I wouldn't admit it. He hurt me, and it was going to take a lot more than that to woo me back into his arms._

"_Then what do I have to do?" He asked. I looked him quizzically, and he nodded at the water, where what I had just thought was written on the water._

_Damn it, I thought._

"_That's not lady-like," he scolded._

"_Shut the hell up you fuzz bag," I said, resisting the urge to laugh at the Naruto Abridged quote. I wrenched myself from his grasp and swam to the shore._

"Aw, Darcy, he's really sorry," Kye said. "You should forgive him."

"Seriously, can't you tell that he likes you a lot?" Akito asked.

"I don't care," I said, standing up, the images disappearing form the wall. "I need a man who respects me. I won't forgive him until he proves it."

"Can you show us exactly what he said to you?" Kye asked.

"Yeah, show us," Akito agreed. "But leave out the kiss, we all saw that."

"You did?" I asked, blushing. They nodded. I shook it off and closed my eyes.

"_I need to ask a favor of you," Gaara said. We had just parted, and I was looking at the water. At his statement, I looked at him sideways, telling him with my eyes that he could continue. "Give up being a ninja."_

"_What?" I asked. Was this a joke?_

"_You heard me. It's too dangerous," he said. "Can't you do something safe?"_

"_There's danger in everything we do, silly," I said jokingly. I still thought it was a joke._

"_But there's less danger in some things than there is in others," he persisted. "Go work in the kitchen like a normal woman."_

"_Excuse me?" I asked, standing up. This was soo not a joke anymore._

"_No, no, that's not what I meant," he said, following me to a standing position. "Listen, I'm just worried about your safety. I don't want you to do something stupid like fight Hidan again."_

"_Are you calling me stupid?" I asked._

"_It was reckless of you to fight Hidan once, brave, but reckless, but it was down right stupid for you to fight him a second time. And willingly at that!" He scolded me._

"_Hello, did you see me decapitate him?" I asked._

"_Yes, that was just luck," he said._

"_What's next? Are you going to call me weak?" I asked._

"_That was next," he said. "I don't see why you fought him twice when you couldn't even beat me once."_

"_Well, I had a lot more training in between my fight with you and my fight with Hidan," I told him._

"_You want to know something else?" He asked._

"_Not really," I said._

"_Too bad," he told me. "You couldn't beat me then, and you can't beat me now!"_

I ended the vision just then.

"Aw, that's all?" Kye asked.

"Pretty much," I said. "You guys saw the rest of it."

"Wow, I didn't' know Gaara could be such a jerk," Akito commented.

"Neither did I," I said.

"Well, he was just trying to protect you," Kye said.

"But he doesn't respect me!" I cried out. "And that's the problem!"

"R-e-s-p-e-c-t, find out what it means to me, r-e-s-p-e-c-t, take care, tcb!" Akito sang.

"Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me," Kye and I sang together. We all started laughing.

"It's late, guys," I said. "Let's get Shikaku Sensei to take us on a C-ranked mission tomorrow."

"We can't, the Chunin Exams start tomorrow," Kye said.

"They do, that's right, I completely forgot!" I said.

"Yeah, me too!" Akito said. "We really need our sleep now."

**D: Well, there you go. Sorry it's short.**

**K: OMFG you have kekkei genkai!**

**D: Isn't awesome?**

**A: Supper awesome!**

**D: Good news!**

**A&K: What?**

**D: No more fillers!**

**A: Yay!**

**K: Wait, does this mean the story is over?**

**D: Yes, yes it does *says sarcastically***

**K: What? NOOOOOO!**

**A: K, did you read the end? The Chunin Exams are next.**

**K: OHHHHHH, my bad.**

**D: Well, anyways, it might take me longer to update because I have to think up teammates and all that jazz. But, the way I plan the Chunin Exams is everything will be the same as in the show, but there wont' be a preliminary. But there still will be a month between the second and third exams. Okay, well, that's all. I already got my characters, sorry to anyone who wanted one. Please review :D**


	10. Written Test

**D: Yay, it's the first part of the Chunin Exams!**

**A: Yay! But wait, how will we cheat?**

**Shika: It's not really cheating, it's more like intelligence gathering.**

**D: …. Who the hell invited you?**

**Shika: I wasn't aware you had to be invited. But if that's how you feel, I'll leave now.**

**D: Hold on, while you're here, do the disclaimer; I think the three of us are sick of doing it.**

**Shika: …Fine, she doesn't own anything. Okay, bye.**

**D&A&K: Bye Shika! *We all wave dramatically***

**A: Okay, so how are we cheating?**

**Shika (in distance): Intel gathering!**

**D: No one cares!**

**K: Well, I think we'll figure it out in the story, so let's get on with the show peeps!**

**Chapter Ten:**

**Written Exam:**

We all sat silently at the breakfast table. "We" being me, Shika, Yoshino, Shikaku, Kye, and Akito.

"So, what's our plan?" Akito asked, finally breaking the silence. "We need someway to cheat."

"Technically, its Intel gathering," Shika said.

"So, in short, cheating," I said.

"Intel gat –" Shika started, but then stopped. "Oh, I'm not doing this."

"I repeat, what's our plan?" Akito asked.

"I don't know," I said. "Any suggestions, Kye?" She didn't reply. "Um, hello, Kye?" This time she closed her eyes tight and slapped her hands over ears. "Um, okay. Does any one know what's wrong with her?"

"What's wrong with me?" She asked. "I can't think because everyone is yelling! It's giving me a headache!"

"No one's yelling," I said. "I'm the only one talking, and that's all I'm doing: talking."

"Really? Because I hear everyone shouting," she said. "Well, they aren't yelling, just all talking at once, it's really annoying and it's giving me a headache."

"What do you hear?" I asked.

"Well, Shika is saying how the Chunin Exams are a drag, Yoshino is going on about cooking and how she's excited for us to be gone for five days so she doesn't have to cook for us, you and Akito are talking about are plans for the first part, and Shikaku Sensei is saying how we are either going to fail or die."

"What?" Akito and I exclaimed together glaring at Shikaku Sensei.

"But wait," he said. "I never said it. Thought it, true, but I didn't say it. This is my first time speaking today."

"Yeah, same with everyone, before your little outburst, Akito and I were the only ones to have spoken," I confirmed.

"So does that mean I'm reading minds?" She asked. "That's so cool! It must be my kekkei genkai!"

"Aw, now I'm the only one with out one," Akito pouted.

"Don't worry, Akito, I'm sure you'll get yours soon," I said. I didn't really think so, but she couldn't blame me if she didn't get her wish, I couldn't tell the future.

_That's not very nice,_ Kye's voice rang in my head.

"What?" I asked out loud.

_Apparently I can also communicate to you,_ she explained, still telepathically.

_Does it work both ways?_ No answer. _Kye, are you listening? Does it work both ways?_ Still no answer.

"Kye!" I finally shouted out loud.

"What?" She asked.

"Where you listening, I asked if it worked both ways," I repeated.

"Oh, no, I guess it doesn't," she said. "I was busy reading Akito's mind."

"Well, that explains it then," I said. We finished breakfast quickly.

"You girls should hurry up," Yoshino said.

"Yeah," Shikaku Sensei agreed.

"Okay, we'll get there quickly," I said standing up. Akito and Kye followed me out the door. As we were walking down and ally way, three girls appeared around the corner. We could tell from their forehead protectors that they were from the mist village.

"And so it begins," I said to my friends.

"Indeed," Kye said.

"Should we be nice?" Akito said.

"Yes, of course we should, as we are the hosting village for the Chunin Exams, it is important that we act hospitable," I said.

"Fine," Akito sighed in defeat. Our two teams met halfway, and we stood there staring at each other, mostly because neither team wanted to move out of the other team's way.

A girl with dark blue hair pulled back into a pony tail stood in front of me. She had blue eyes, and she wore a dark blue halter top, a blue skirt with black leggings, and blue ninja sandals.

"Hi," the girl said. "My name is Tsuki." She held out her hand for me to shake.

"Darcy," I introduced, taking her hand.

"I'm Mizuka," the girl to her left said, holding out her hand to Akito. She had a black bob, and black eyes. Her outfit was the same color as Tsuki's, but she had a tank top and pants instead. Her shoes were the same, though. As was the other girl's.

"Akito," was all Akito said, shaking Mizuka's hand briefly. She was still disappointed the she couldn't beat the shit out of them.

"I'm Kana," the third girl said. She also had a bob cut, but her hair was white, and her eyes were black. She had the same outfit as Mizuka. They looked like the popular girls you would see in Disney movies, you know the ones. There's the main, pretty, popular girl, and then her two followers who wear similar clothes to her, but they are less flattering than the main girl's clothes. It was clear Tsuki was the leader here.

We stood in silence for a while, before Tsuki finally broke the silence.

"We should probably hurry," she said to her team.

"See you guys later," she called over her shoulder as she, Mizuka, and Kana hurried away.

"Come on, guys," I said, starting off the way we were headed. "We still have time to calm down and think." In other words, relax before the hell started.

We were at the clearing where we had the picnic.

"You know, this place is really nice," Akito said.

"Yeah, it's beautiful here," Kye said.

"I disagree," I stated flatly.

"Hey, look, more people," Kye said, pointing across the clearing, where, sure enough, four people were arriving. The saw us and made their way over.

"Hi," I said rather flatly, I was still upset about being here.

"Hi," one boy said.

"My name is Sakumaru," the other boy said. "What's yours?"

"Darcy," I said.

"Not you, her," he indicated Akito.

"Who, me?" Akito asked, indicating herself with her index finger.

"Yeah, you, gorgeous," Sakumaru said.

"Okay, first off, my name is NOT gorgeous," Akito said. "Secondly, I was going to tell you my name, and then I wasn't, and now that I realize you'll just call me gorgeous if I don't tell you my name, I'll tell you. My name is Akito."

"You could have just said 'my name is Akito' in the first place," I said, still grumpy. "No one asked for that long, pointless, stupid, meaningless, dumbass story!" My voice gradually got louder as I spoke.

"Just because you're upset doesn't mean you have to rub it off on everyone else," Akito pouted.

"Whatever," I said sourly.

"Anyways, I'm Kye," Kye introduced.

"My name is Ria," a girl with short black hair and hot pink bangs and blue eyes introduced. She had a white kimono on, kind of like Temari's (in the second part) except shorter, and she had black leggings on, and black ninja sandals.

"Tsukyo," the final boy said. His chakra signature seemed strangely familiar, but I shrugged it off. He was dressed just like Sasuke, but, of course, I shrugged _that_ off, too. Then, the fourth person, a man, who looked strangely like the man Orochimaru disguised himself as during the preliminary round of the Chunin Exams, stepped forward.

"I am the team's sensei, Steven," he said. "Steven Viper."

"Steven Viper?" Kye asked, quirking her eyebrow. "You guys are from the sound." It was a statement, for they all had forehead protectors with the sound symbol on it.

"Yes, we are," Steven Viper answered, even though it wasn't a question. "We must leave now, but I look forward to when our teams compete." And with that, he left.

"That is _so_ Orochimaru," I said once he was out of ear shot.

"Definitely," Akito said.

"I half expected him to be wearing that 'I am Naruto' shirt the he wore in the Naruto Abridged series," Kye said.

"Well, let's continue on and see who else is coming," I said.

"Good idea," Kye said.

"So, where to now?" Akito asked.

"I guess we should head to the testing room," I said. Akito and Kye both nodded in agreement, so we set out to the testing room. I was beginning to get really nervous. It was that pre-test nervousness that (most) people get right before a test.

It took us about twenty minutes to reach our destination. I guess we could gotten there quicker, but we decided to take our time.

"I wonder who our prompter will be," I wondered allowed.

"Probably Ibiki," Kye said.

"Oh, I really hope not," Akito said. "I don't want him messing with the way I think."

"That's true," I said. "But he really taught everyone a lesson that one time." I pushed open the door to building the test was in (I think it's the academy, but I'm not sure).

"Hey, is this where the first part of the Chunin Exam is?" A girl asked from behind us. We turned to see two girls and a boy entering the building behind us.

"Yeah, it is," I said. "I'm Darcy, by the way. Who are you?"

"Anna Iato," she said. She had long black hair with dark red highlights and onyx eyes. Her outfit was just like Kye's except it was dark blue with a black trim and white shorts underneath. She had on black ninja sandals.

"I'm Kokomo," the boy said. He had black hair and eyes, and he wore all black: pants, long sleeved shirt, and ninja sandals. On his belt he had two blue sward hilts, but no blades.

"And I'm Miako," the last girl said. She had blue eyes, long, braided blond hair, and she wore a semi-sleeve pink shirt, a pink mini skirt, black leggings, and black ninja sandals.

"We're from the rain village," Anna said.

"That's nice," I said. "We're from the leaf village. Oh, wait, I guess that's obvious."

"It's so nice to meet you! I can tell we're going to be great friends!" Miako said excitedly.

"Ahaha, I guess so," I said. Now that I was away from the clearing, I felt a lot better.

"This is going to be so much fun, right Anna?" Miako asked.

"Whatever," she said. "Let's just go take our test." And with that, she walked away. Probably headed to the testing room.

"What's her deal?" I asked.

"We don't really know," Kokomo said. "She just doesn't like people."

"I see," I said.

"**Oh, my god, she's just like Sasuke!**" Jade cooed. "How many times do I have to tell you? It's Itachi we want!"

"Does she always talk to herself?" Kokomo asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," I said. "Come on, let's get going." We hurried after Anna, and, eventually, we made it to the testing room. And just in time, too. As soon as we entered, Ibiki and his team of eagle eyed Chunin were there and ready to begin.

"Okay, that's everyone," Ibiki said when we entered. "Now, I'll give you a number, and then you'll sit down. Once everyone is seated, I'll pass out the test and explain the rules."

"Wait, a written test?" Kye suddenly cried out. "No, wait, I haven't studied yet! Oh no, oh no, I'm going to fail!

"Um, well, once you sit down, and I'll explain everything," Ibiki repeated. But that didn't set Kye at ease.

"I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail," Kye repeated. Akito and I tried our best to hold in our laughter, because we knew exactly what the test would be like. Well, we didn't know the nitty gritty details, but we had a general idea. Not to mention my kekkei genkai and Kye's. This would be a breeze.

We all got our numbers and sat down. I subtly looked around for Akito and found her sitting in the front left corner.

_Good, now I know where she is._ You know, you don't really have to do anything. Kye could just give the answers to you and Akito. _Well, yeah, I know that. But I want to be useful._ You've been training as a medic; your time will come when you need to heal your team. _That's true, but I want to be useful here, too. After all, I am the leader. _Really, when was that decided? _It wasn't. I guess it was just a given. _If you say so.

"Okay, now for the rules," Ibiki said. He started writing on the bored. "First, you will all start out with a perfect score. So if you get a question wrong, you lose a point. You start with ten points, so if you get three questions wrong you'll have seven points left. Second rule, you are scored as a team. If one person gets a zero and fails, the whole team fails. And now, the third and final rule: There is absolutely no cheating at all! For each time you are caught by one of the sentries, you lose two points. Get caught five times, and not only do you fail, but so do your teammates. Is that clear?"

"Wait, so if one person is caught cheating, then the whole team loses?" Miako said. "No pressure or anything."

"If you are stupid enough to get caught cheating in my classroom, you don't deserve to pass. Also, there are only nine written questions, I will give you the tenth," Ibiki said harshly. "Now, you all have the test, you will begin on my mark." He paused too look at the clock. "Ready… Begin!" There was the sound of paper flipping over and pencils being picked up. I read the first question in my head:

_Line B in the diagram indicates the trajectory of a shurikin thrown at enemy C by ninja A seated atop a tree seven meters tall. _Aw, man, it sounds like math. _Describe and formulate the trajectory required… _

I trailed off.

_Ah, shit, this makes no damn sense! _You're telling me. When will Kye get the answers to us?

_Be patient, I'm still gathering information_, Kye told us.

_Um, how'd you hear me? _I asked her.

_You accidently wrote what you were thinking on my paper, _she explained. _Don't worry, it came off, and nobody saw._

_Okay, whatever, just hurry up,_ I said.

I stared at my paper for a while, pretending to figure out the questions, waiting for Kye to hurry the hell up.

_I can hear you, you know,_ her voice rang in my head.

_Sorry,_ I replied.

_No, you're not,_ she laughed. _Anyways, I have the answers. Do you want me to give them to Akito or do you want to do that?_

_How about I do it, that way the answers stay in front of her. How about you tell her that I'll give it to her letter by letter, and I'll give her three seconds with each letter,_ I ordered.

_Got it,_ Kye said. A minute later, her voice rang in my head. _Okay, I told her. First I need to give you the answers. I'll tell her when you're ready. Here are the answers._

As she told me, I used my kekkei genkai to write them on the table in front of me.

_Okay, now for Akito,_ I thought.

_She's ready, _Kye informed.

I closed my eyes and imagined writing the letter in front of her, waiting for three seconds, and then erasing it and replacing it with the next letter.

By the time the three of us all had our answers, there were fifteen minutes left in the test.

"Fifteen minutes," Ibiki announced.

I flipped my paper over so the blank back was facing up, and laid my head on my arm and waited. I ended up falling asleep, actually. And I didn't have a very good awakening. Hey, how would you like to wake up flying across a room towards the window? And that's how I awoke.

My fluttered opened.

_Oh, I'm flying across the room._

I closed my eyes again. Then the snapped back open.

"Shit!" I cried out as my body hit the window. I nearly feel out, but I flung my hands at the wall, slowing, and eventually stopping, my fall with my chakra. "Who the hell tossed me out the f***ing window?"

"Ibiki, she's awake," Sakura called. And so my question was answered.

"Sakura!" I shouted angrily. She poked her head out the window.

"Yes?" She asked innocently.

"Don't act so innocent, bitch! Why'd you toss me out the window?" I shouted at her as I made my way back up the side of the building.

"Ibiki asked me to wake you up," she said. "I tried the gentle way, but you were fast asleep. So I threw you."

"Out of a window?" I asked as I pulled myself into the room.

"Oh, I didn't mean to do that, but it happened," she shrugged.

"You need to learn to control your strength," I hissed menacingly as I stalked her.

"And you need to control your anger," she said, holding her hands up in surrender. That wasn't enough to stop me, though. I continued to stalk her, and she continued to walk backwards until she bumped into Ibiki. She quickly hid behind him. I was trying to glare him to nothing so I could punch Sakura.

"Take your seat," Ibiki instructed. "Now."

"Yes, sir," I reluctantly forced out, and with that said, I turned on my heel and stalked back to my seat.

"Anyways," Ibiki continued. "The tenth question."

The tenth question. We needed to answer this right, or we might not be able to try and become Chunin ever gain.

"You have a choice if you want to take the question," Ibiki said after a moment of thought. "If you leave, you can try again next time, but if you choose to take the question, you are no longer competing against the other teams, just your teammates. The team member with the lowest score will be bared from taking the Chunin Exams ever again!"

"You mean that the person with the lowest score will be stuck as a genin for the rest of their life?" I asked. That wasn't fair.

"Exactly," Ibiki said. "I'll give you a minute to decide if you want to stay or leave."

_What should we do? If we leave, then we have to wait, but if we stay, there's a chance that one of us will be stuck as a genin. And that one could very well be me._ It'll definitely be you. It'll be everyone. Think about it, he gave this question to Idate, too. _He did. But there has to be another choice._ No there's not, he didn't give you another choice. _No, there's always another choice. I just need to think._

"Okay, times up, raise your hand if you want to leave," Ibiki announced.

_No, wait, I need more time! _You better come up with something now, or we're done here.

A few people raised there hands, but not many. They had to stay for the question, apparently.

"Idiots," I muttered to myself.

"Is that it? If you want to leave, now's your chance," Ibiki said. One more person raised their hand. "If that's all, then –" I wouldn't sit for this. Oh, no, I stood up, pointing and accusing finger at Ibiki.

"We can't go against our team; that goes against all the rules we've been taught" I said.

"In here, I am the rules," he replied.

"I don't care," I said. "In the ninja world, there are no rules. There is always another choice. You gave us choice A and choice B, well, I chose choice C."

"And what is choice C?" Ibiki asked.

"To stand through thick and thin with my team," I stated simply. "In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, true, but those who abandon their comrades, are even worse than that. There aren't any rules that I need to follow in the ninja world besides my own, and there aren't any rules here that I have to follow." I stared at him, and he stared at me.

"Well, it seems there is a third choice," he said. "Raise your hand if you wish to choose that option." There was a pause while everyone thought, and slowly but surely, the remaining contestants raised their hands.

"Well, with that said, you all pass," he said.

"What? That's it?" Tsuki cried out in exasperation. "What were the other questions for?"

"To test if you could successfully gather information with out getting caught," he said. "The whole point of the test was not to cheat, but to cheat successfully. It was as simple as that. But, you needed the answers, so, for that, we had two Chunin sitting in with you so you could get the answers." On cue, Sakura raised her hand.

_That explains why she was here. But who was the second? _Look.

"Huh? Shika?" I cried out in shock. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because it would have been way to easy for you to gather Intel.

"You mean cheat," I said.

"Don't start this," he said. I just smiled.

"Anyways, you all need to get going for the second part of the exam," Ibiki continued. "Follow Sakura and Shika, they'll show the way."

Kye, Akito, and I quickly met up with each other.

"You guys ready for this?" I asked.

"Oh, hell yeah," they said in unison, high-fiving each other.

And with that, we headed to the Forest of Death.

**D: Okay, sorry for the late update, but I was tying to think up something original for the tenth question, but I ended up just using what he used for Idate, and I just sort of added to it.**

**K: It was a great chapter!**

**A: Yeah, and long!**

**K&A: Review please!**

**D: Yes, please do! Oh, and I'm leaving to go camping tomorrow, so I won't be updating for a while. Plus, my first day of work is this Sunday, like, right when I get back from camping, and band camp starts on Wednesday, but the first full day is Thursday, but that's not the point, the point is that I'll be very busy, and I'm also about to start my junior year of high school, which I hear is the hardest year, and I really want to get good grades, so I'm going t try my best. I understand you want me to update, but it would be great to have the full support of my readers :D Thank you! Anyways, review, and I hope you enjoyed! Again, review (incase you forgot the first two reminders)**


	11. Survival of the Fittest

**D: I'm baaaack! Did ya miss me?**

**A&K: NO!**

**D: Ya don't hafta be mean…**

**A: Yeah, yeah, whatever.**

**K: She doesn't own anything.**

**D: Here cooooommmmeees… THE SECOND PART OF THE CHUNIN EXAMS!**

**Chapter 11:**

**Survival of the Fittest:**

"My name is Anko, and I am the prompter for the second exam!" Anko shouted at the group of genin standing out side the Forest of Death. "Your goal is simple: Find either a Heaven scroll or an Earth scroll, and survive for five days. To do this not only will you need the will to survive and the strength to face enemies, but you will also need to know what plants you can and can't eat. You are only allowed to use what you bring into the forest with you. Is that clear?"

"Wait what about the scroll? What do we do with that?" Miako asked.

"I was just getting to that," Anko said. "In secret, you will get a scroll, Heaven or Earth, and while you are in the forest, you will be trying to get which ever scroll you don't have. Also, I need you to sign these release forms, in case you die. That way, I'm not held responsible if you die." She was laughing when she finished her little speech.

"Apparently, she finds this funny," I heard Anna whisper to her team as she got her release form. Once everyone had their form, they were called team by team to get their scrolls.

"Okay, Tsuki's team has a Heaven scroll," Kye informed me and Akito in a whisper. "And Anna's team and Earth scroll, and Sakumaru's team also has an Earth scroll."

"And now, it's our turn," I said, and we headed to the table that was surrounded by the curtains. We handed over our release forms, and received a Heaven scroll in return.

"Good luck, and don't die," one of the men said as we left.

"Well, that's encouraging," I said as Akito, Kye, and I made our way to our designated gate.

"So, we know who we're gong for?" Kye asked.

"Sakumaru's team, please," Akito begged.

"Why?" I asked.

"He was flirting with me, and it creeps me out," she said simply.

"Haha, okay," I said.

"Orochimaru is definitely their team leader," Kye suddenly said.

"Yeah," Akito and I agreed.

"And that Tsukyo dude is with out a doubt Sasuke," Kye continued. "**Eep! Sasuke! We have to go see him! **Shut up, Jade!"

"Enough, I'm so not in the mood right now," I said.

"Um, Darcy," a hesitant voice suddenly spoke up behind me. A voice that I did NOT want to hear. Ever.

"Yes?" I asked, not turning around.

"I just wanted to say," he paused and took a deep breath.

"Lord Kazekage," Anko suddenly appeared. "I have to ask you to leave, please, the second part is about to begin."

"Right, one moment," he told her.

"Okay." She turned and left.

"Darcy –" but I interrupted him.

"You heard her," I said rudely. "Leave." I heard a sigh, and he left.

"Darcy, you wanna talk about it?" Kye asked.

"There's nothing to talk about," I said bluntly.

"We're here for you," Akito said.

"Look, guys," I said, turning to face them with a smile on my face. "It's great that you have my back, but we can't worry about him right now, we have to worry about getting that scroll."

"Right," they said in unison. We all faced the gates just as the opened.

"Begin!" We heard Anko shout, and we bolted in. I was in the lead, with Kye to my back right and Akito to my back left (we were in a 'V' shape). We didn't stop until we reached a clearing were we could hide beneath the roots of a tree (they were some BIIIG roots).

"Okay, so we want to go after Sakumaru's group?" I asked.

"Hell yeah!" Akito cheered.

"So, first thing's first, we have to find his team," I said. "Kye, do you think your kekkei genkai will work for this?"

"Let's see," she said, closing her eyes and concentrating for a bit. "It's not working."

"Well, we'll have to do it the old fashioned way, I guess," I said.

"And that would be?" Kye asked.

"Surveillance," I said. "Let's split up, if either of you find something, try and find the others. We'll stay within twenty five feet, okay?"

"Got it," Akito said.

"Yup," Kye said.

"Good, then let's go!" I ordered. We all jumped into different directions **(A/N: There's going to be a lot of POV changes, so bear with me, but this is still my POV)**

I jumped through the trees, using my chakra to try and find any form of life. So far, there was nothing.

**Kye's POV:**

I raced around on the ground, using my kekkei genkai to try and find familiar thoughts. But so far, I had no luck.

**Akito's POV:**

I jumped up high into the trees and looked around. Eventually, I found what I was looking for. I jumped down from the trees, and ran to the outskirts of the clearing I had spotted from above, with out realizing that I had gone more than twenty five feet. Hiding behind a tree, I found Sakumaru's team. I really wanted to punch that brat, which was why I didn't bother to look for the others. In stead, I pulled out a kunai, and raced into the clearing.

**Darcy's POV:**

I had gone about twenty five feet, so I circled back, making sure to take a different path, just in case.

_I can't believe that I didn't see a single enemy; that must be unprecedented._ That's not necessarily true. Everyone must be elsewhere in the forest. _That must be it. Well, at any rate, I should hurry back and meet up with Akito and Kye quickly. _You mean 'we' should meet up with Akito and Kye. _We're the same person. _If you keep talking to me like this, then you have to say 'we'. _Fine, WE have to go meet up with Akito and Kye._

**Kye's POV:**

"Nothing," I muttered to myself. "We better head back and meet up with Akito and Darcy, do you agree Jade? **Yeah, but I really wanted to see Sasuke…** Oh, shut up about him already. **We have a connection. How many times have you kissed Itachi, huh?** Many times. **It doesn't count if it was in your dreams. **Zero times. **Exactly, Sasuke and I had a few very passionate moments. **Yes, and I had to wash my mouth out with soap after that. **Admit it, you enjoyed it! **NEVER!" I had this argument with myself on the way back to the clearing. Darcy was already there when I arrived. "Where's Akito?"

"I don't know, I figured she was with you," she replied. "Well, she'll show up."

A few minutes passed, but she didn't show up.

Ten minutes passed.

Fifteen minutes.

Twenty minutes.

"Kye, use your kekkei genkai and try and find her via her thoughts," Darcy finally spoke up.

"Right," I said. I closed my eyes and let my mind go blank. I felt pulses of invisible chakra (both to the eye, and to people trying to sense it, unless they were sensors like Kerin [the little bitch-whore]). They best way to describe it was that it was like a radar, or maybe echo location, which it kind of was. Only, when it found someone's thoughts, it read them in stead of bouncing back to me. Once I found someone's thoughts, the kekkei genkai become more like a book, where their thoughts would lay out on my eyelids like a book. It was very convenient. "I can't find her with in the twenty five feet we decided on. Let's see if my jutsu can go any further than that." I tried again and again. "Sorry, Darcy, but it seems twenty five feet is as far as I can hear."

"Well, we should get moving, she could be in danger," Darcy said. We had reached the clearing that we had first separated. "Do you remember which way she went?"

"This way," I said, pointing in the direction I was positive Akito had gone.

**Akito's POV:**

"Give me your scroll!" I shouted.

"What?" Sakumaru said in confusion. I stopped in front of his group.

"You heard me, creep. Give. Me. Your. Scroll," I said slowly, so that he could understand me.

"Not a chance," he said, jumping up, kunai ready. After that, everything happened in a blur. He lunged at me, kunai at the ready. I jumped to the side and slashed his arm with my kunai. I felt pretty good about that until I saw a bunch of kunai flying towards me. Was there a trap somewhere or something? I didn't know; all I knew was that I was frozen where I was, and I was about to be hit by at least twenty kunai.

_Well, crap,_ I though to myself. I cried out in pain as the knives made contact with my body and sent me flying back into a tree. I grunted in pain as I slumped down the tree. I tried to stand, but I was too weak.

_This is it,_ I thought. But then, there was a strange feeling in my body, as if my DNA was changing. It wasn't a painful feeling, just a foreign one. I felt my arms and legs getting longer and… furrier? Yes, that was indeed fur. In fact, the fur was all over my body. I felt claws growing on my hands, and my teeth were getting sharper and longer. The wounds that had just left me weak on the ground suddenly didn't hurt as much. I stood up on all fours, for that was what felt more natural.

"Holly shit, she's a wolf," I heard the voice of Sakumaru.

_A wolf? Epic, _I thought to myself. I felt a growl escape from my lips, and, with out warning, I lunged forward, claws ready. As I was about to strike him, I was blocked by the sward of Tsukyo blocked me.

"I don't think so," he said. I was about to slash the side of his face when I was interrupted yet again.

"**NOOOOO!**" It sounded like Kye, but the tone of voice identified it as someone else. "**GET AWAY FROM MY MAN BITCH!**" Jade.

"Akito? Is that you?" Darcy asked. I felt my body changing from a wolf to a human.

"Yup, it's me," I said.

"**I TOLD YOU TO GET AWAY FROM MY MAN!**" Jade said. "Jade, be quiet, he's not your man anymore. **SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU FUZZ BAG! Hi, Sasuke!**"

"Hey, how did you know?" Ria asked.

"We recognized his chakra signature," Darcy said."

"Jade, let go," Kye complained, for Jade had latched herself onto poor Sasuke. "**NEVER, BITCH! MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!**"

"Oh, boy," Darcy said. "Jade, how about you let go if we get the scroll?"

"**Why should I?**" She asked.

"Don't you want to pass this part of the exam?" Darcy asked, trying to reason with her.

"**Well, yeah, I guess so**," she said. "Then let go of Sasuke, and you can hug him later." Even Kye was trying to reason with herself (**A/N: That just sounds weird…**)

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Just go along with it, Sas-gay," Kye said (**A/N: I stole that from you, PrincessAnna-UchihaLover)**. "**WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL MY MAN?** You heard me SAS-GAY! **DON'T BE MEAN TO OUR MAN! **OUR man? Hello, Itachi Uchiha ring a bell?"

"Come on, guys, have this argument some other time," Darcy complained, addressing them as if they were two people, and not one.

"**Fine**," Jade said. "**Sasuke, if you give me your scroll, I'll let go of you**."

"YES! I WILL!" Sasuke exclaimed. "Um, I mean, sure, whatever."

"**But don't think this will get you out of anything else later**," Jade warned as she took the scroll.

"Whatever," Sasuke said.

"Let's go, guys," Darcy said. And we jumped into the trees and back to our clearing.

**Darcy's POV:**

"It's getting late," I said. "Do you two think we should make a camp here, or should we just continue to the tower?"

"Well, it's not dark yet," Kye said thoughtfully. "Maybe we should head towards the tower until it get's dark, and then make camp. We can take guard shifts."

"Hmm, what do you think, Akito?" I asked.

"That seem like the best choice," Akito said. "But who will take the first shift?"

"I will," I said. "Akito, can you take the second shift? Since it'll be the darkest time of the night, you can transform to a wolf so you will be able to better than me and Kye."

"Okay, I can do that," Akito said.

"So then I get the last shift," Kye said. "I'll wake everyone up when the sun comes up."

"Okay," I said, standing up. "Let's move out. Oh, but first, Akito, you're hurt."

"Oh, yeah, I am," she said looking down at the cuts on her arms.

"Here, let me heal you," I said. "Hold out your arms." She did as she was instructed, and I held my hands over her right arm, my eyes closed in concentration. Soon, I felt my chakra around my hands healing her arms. When that arm was done, I quickly healed her other arm.

"Whoa, where'd you learn that?" She asked.

"Sakura's been training me," I said. "Okay, now we can move out."

We jumped up into the trees and headed in the direction of the tower (we could see it, sort of). We managed to avoid all of our enemies because of Kye's ability.

When it finally got dark, we found a tree with large roots that we could hide under.

"We'll stay here for the night," I said. "You two get a good night sleep."

"How long will shifts be?" Akito asked.

I took out my phone to check the time. "Well, it's ten o' clock now, and the sun will come up around seven in the morning. So that's nine hours, so if we each take a three hour shift, that'll split up the time perfectly," I said.

"What happens if an enemy team finds u?" Akito asked.

"Wake up the people who are sleeping," I said. "Now get to bed. You two need to be ready for you shift's."

"Okay," Akito and Kye said together. They grabbed their blankets from their packs (when did we get those?) and got comfortable on the ground (as comfortable as you can get with roots and rocks and stuff jabbing into your back).

I left and quickly started to set up traps. Once that was done, I planted my self on one of the tree roots.

My three hours were long and uneventful. And I was glad when I went to give Akito my shift. Akito packed up her blanket and headed out take her shift while I set up my blanket. I was hoping for a good sleep and a good dream. But what I got instead was something completely different. It felt more like a vision than a dream.

_A man dressed all in black and covered from head to toe except for a slit for his eyes ran through the night. He was in the Hyuga residence. Soon, the man was in Hinata's room. He silently gagged her, tied her hands and feet, and picked her up and left. _

_Later that morning, Hiashi Hyuga went in her room, and, upon noticing she was gone, called a meeting with the Elder Hyuga's._

"_We cannot tell the Hokage, not yet at least," one of the elders said._

"_And why not?" Hiashi asked. "This is my daughter we're talking about, the heir to the Hyuga clan. We need a team out looking for her immediately."_

"_We do not want to raise panic in the village, we shall deal with this dilemma ourselves," the elder persisted. "There is nothing more to discuss, Lord Hyuga."_

"_Very well," Hiashi said reluctantly. _

_Then, suddenly, Akito, Kye, and I stood with the sand siblings. We stood in what looked to be a laboratory. I saw Hinata tied down to a table, but then she was blocked bye three people in lab coats. They would have looked like scientists if it weren't for the kunai pouches on their legs'._

"_Get out of here!" The middle man yelled._

"_Soon, the beyakugan will be ours, and you won't stop us, Leaf and Sand Shinobi," the man on the left continued._

"_If you don't leave now," the man on the right said. "We will be forced to make you leave."_

"_Let's see you try," I coaxed, taking a kunai. The man across from me (the middle man) mimicked me, and lunged at me. Suddenly, Gaara jumped in front of me blocking the scientist-ninja._

"_Darcy, wake up," he said, turning to me. "Your friends are calling you._

"Darcy, it's time to get up," I heard Kye's voice call. It sounded distant at first, but as she called out again, it sounded like she was right next to my ear. "Darcy!"

"What?" I asked groggily.

"It's time to move out," she said.

"Okay," I said. "I have something to tell you about on our way, too."

On our way, we ran into some random team.

"It's clear you have your scrolls," the middle guy said. He had black hair and black eyes. I decided to call him Black (**A/N: Please note that I am not trying to be racist here, the only reason I'm calling him 'Black' is because he has black hair and black eyes, and, well, I'm too lazy to come up with a real name. I am not trying to offend/insult anyone, so please, no one be offended/insulted. Thank you, that is all. Now, back to the story**). The man to his left had blond hair, so I called him Blondie, and the man to his right had brown hair, so he was Brown. They all had on simple ninja outfits: brown shirts and tan pants and black ninja sandals. Very uncreative. Their headbands said that they were from the Village Hidden in the Grass.

**Later, at the Tower:**

"You really think that's happened?" Kye asked.

"It's probably just a dream, Darcy," Akito said.

"No, it was way too real to be a dream," I said.

"Well, we can just ask Lady Tsunade," Kye said.

"No, we can't," I said. "If this has happened, chances are, no one except the Hyuga clan knows. After this part of the exam, we'll go talk to them."

"You're probably just over reacting," Kye said.

"So what if I am?" I said. "But what if I'm not, do you want to condemn poor to who knows what?"

"You have a good point," Kye said.

"But when will the test be over?" Akito asked.

"Well, it took us two days, so three more days," I said.

"Ugh," Akito groaned. "I'm already bored."

**Three Days Later, After the Test is Done:**

"Congratulations to all who completed the test," Lady Tsunade said.

There were four teams left: Sakumaru's team, Tsuki's team, Anna's team, and my team.

"You have a month to prepare for the third part of the exam," she continued. "You can return to your home village to train or go on missions, or you can stay here and train if you would like. The purpose of this one month break is so that you can develop new skills, rest a bit, and so that I can inform important people of the start of third part of the exam. As for the exam itself, it will be –" but I interrupted her.

"It's a series of one-on-one battles," I said. "Each battle is a fight to the death, basically. If you feel the fight is too much, you can forfeit, and –"

"That's quite enough," Lady Tsunade interrupted. She was annoyed that I stole her glory. "But that basically covers how the rounds will go. It's a tournament style, so if you lose, you're out, but that doesn't disqualify you from becoming a Chunin. Before you leave today, you'll draw numbers that will pair you up with a random opponent. Before we do that, though, are there any questions?"

"If we decide to stay here instead of return to our village," Tsuki said. "Will you provide a home for us here?"

"Yes, just have your sensei talk to me. Now, are there any more questions?" When there was no answer, Lady Tsunade continued. "Okay, now we'll draw numbers."

When that was all done, the numbers looked like this:

Darcy: 1

Kye: 2

Akito: 3

Sakumaru: 4

Tsukyo: 5

Ria: 6

Anna: 7

Kokomo: 8

Miako: 9

Tsuki: 10

Mizuka: 11

Kana: 12

These were the pairings:

1 vs. 10

2 vs. 7

3 vs. 4

5 vs. 12

6 vs. 9

8 vs. 11

"That is all," Lady Tsunade said. "Don't forget, one month from today is the third part of the exam. Dismissed!"

Kye, Akito, and I turned to see the sand siblings standing to the right of the door and Shikaku Sensei standing to the left of the door. I grabbed my friends' arms and dragged them to Shikaku Sensei.

"I'm glad to see you passed," he said as we left.

"Are you kidding me, before we left you were hoping we would die," Kye said.

"How did you know?"

"I can read minds, genius," she said.

"Oh, right," he said. "Well, anyways, what do you plan to do for your one month training time?"

"Well, there was one thing we needed to do," I said. "Which we should go do now, right guys?"

"Right," Kye and Akito agreed.

"See you later, Sensei!" We called as we ran off.

"Okay, should we go find Neji, or should we just go straight to the Hyuga compound?" I asked.

"Neji, I think," Akito said.

"Well, I think the Hyuga compound," Kye said.

"Hmm," I said, thinking for a moment.

**D: Well, I'm gonna try something new here, but I don't know how well it will work, for I actually need readers. **

**A: What is it?**

**D: I'm going to have the readers vote.**

**K: On what?**

**D: On weather we should go to Neji or if we should go directly to the Hyuga compound.**

**A: Why?**

**D: Two reasons. One, I've been playing StarCraft and there are a few missions where you get to choose if you want to do one thing or another thing, so I feel like doing something like that.**

**K: And the other reason?**

**D: I'm getting to it. The other reason is that I just want to finish this, so this is a great ending. So…**

**A: Review and…**

**K: Advertise!**

**D: See you next time!**


	12. Jai

**D: -sniff sniff-**

**A: What's wrong, Darcy?**

**D: Oh, well, I'm just sad that I didn't get a lot of reviews… But, oh well. I have a plan B.**

**K: What's that?**

**D: You'll see. It involves introducing a new character. I do NOT own her. She belongs to WhatTheHellIsThat. I must apologize for making you all wait, but school's been hell. So, let's get on with the story.**

**Chapter 12:**

**Jai**

**Darcy POV:**

We (Akito, Kye and myself) were sitting at the exit of were the preliminaries were held. Or, where they would have been held, if we had them. It was where Naruto had his. Let's leave it at that.

Well, anyways, we were sitting there discussing what we should do (go to the Hyuga compound or find Neji), when a girl interrupted us.

"Hey, guys, what's the problem here?" Kiba said from behind us. The three of us turned to see him with his arm around a girl and standing behind us and Akamaru behind them. The girl had shoulder length black hair and bangs that covered her right eye. She wore a black tube top shirt with a fish net shirt underneath, dark purple cargo style (lot's of pockets) Capri's, and black ninja shoes.

"Who's the girl?" I asked, standing up.

"This is Jai," Kiba introduced. "She's my new girlfriend. We're both Chunin."

"Hi," she said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you," I said, holding out my hand. She took it.

"You too," she said.

"But, what were you guys saying?" Kiba asked.

"Well," I hesitated, glancing at my friends. Akito and Kye nodded, and I told Kiba and Jai about my dr – er, vision.

"Interesting," Jai said, thinking.

"We should go to the Hyuga compound," Kiba said. "It's obvious that only Hiashi wants to inform the Hokage. And we don't want to get on the bad side of Hyuga council."

"I agree," Jai said.

"So do I," Akito said, nodding.

"And I do, too," Anna said.

"So be it," I said. "To the Hyuga compound."

**At the Hyuga Compound, with Hiashi:**

"How did you find out about this?" Hiashi asked us. But he didn't sound angry; in fact, he sounded curious, and almost grateful.

"I had this weird dream-vision thing of Hinata being kidnapped," I explained. "I figured we should help. It was obviously a sign of some kind."

"I see," Hiashi said, sounding contemplative this time. "Fine then, search for her. If you find her, do everything in your power to save her. But I have one request."

"And what's that?" I asked.

"You three aren't Chunin yet," he pointed out. "I want some more experienced people with you; it could be dangerous."

"We're experienced," Kiba said, pointing to himself and Jai.

"Yes, but I want you guys to form a back up squad for them," he said. "Stay within the radio range of them and wait for a call for help, if it comes."

"But if they don't go with us, who will?" I asked.

"You'll see." And with that, he stood up and strode out of the room.

**Later, at the Nara Compound:**

"Shikaku Sensei," I said to my sensei at the table, where he was sitting looking over Jonin paper work stuff.

"Yes?" He asked, not looking up.

"Kye, Akito, and I are going to train by ourselves," I announced.

"For a whole month? Alone?" He asked.

"Yes, well, I'm not sure if it will be a whole month, it all depends on how much we improve, but we'll be back here so you know when we're back," I explained. I knew I couldn't tell him the truth.

After that, Akito said her goodbye (a very passionate kiss that we had to break up) with Naruto. Then, we headed to the village entrance to see who we would be working with.

**Later, at the village entrance:**

As Kye, Akito, Kiba, Jai, and I approached the village entrance, we saw the Sand Siblings standing there, their backs facing us.

"No," I said, stopping in my tracks. "I'm not doing this."

"Darcy, you have to," Kye said. "We need to get Hinata back."

I hesitated. "Yeah, I guess you're right." And with that, I marched up to the trio. "Are you guys ready? We need to leave immediately."

"Yes, we're ready," Temari said before Gaara could say anything.

"Then let's go," I said.

"Hold on," Gaara said. "Do you even know were we're going?"

"Yes," I said. And, strangely, that was the truth. I new, somehow, maybe instinctively, where Hinata was. "Let's move out."

And we all jumped into the trees, The Sand trio just behind my team, and Kiba and Jai behind them.

**D: Sorry for the late update and the short chapter. I'm tired, so I'm going to continue it when I can.**

**K: FINNALLY!**

**A: I know, right?**

**D: HEY, I SAID I WAS SORRY!**

**K and A: Whatever!**

**D: Anyways, I hope you liked it. Please review! Goodnight!**


	13. Forgiveness?

**D: Here we go again (not to quote a popular pop song or anything)**

**K: Way to go, dummy.**

**D: Gee, love you too.**

**A: Don't fight, ladies.**

**D&K: SHUT IT!**

**A: Uh, well, anyways, Darcy doesn't own anything. Okay, on with the story – wait, what are you guys doing? PLEASE DON'T KILL MEEEEE! -runs away-**

**(Sorry, Akita)**

**Chapter 13:**

**Forgiveness?**

We traveled in silence for the whole day, but I knew we would have to stop for the night; I was dreading it.

I waited until the sun was setting until I talked to Kiba through my headset.

"_Kiba, can you find us a place to stay for the night?_" I asked him.

"_Yeah, I'll start looking_."

Within about ten minutes, he had found us a well sheltered, well hidden cave. It was perfect, except for the fact that the entrance was so big that it would require two people per watch.

"Okay, I'll take the first watch," I looked at Akito and Kye, telling them that they should volunteer to work with me, but before they could speak, Gaara spoke up.

"I'll do the watch with you," he said. Nobody argued because it was already dark so there was no time to argue, besides, we needed our rest.

"Fine," I said, turning to go sit at the entrance. I sat on a rock just in the shadow of the cave entrance. Gaara, smartly, sat on a rock on the other side. After approximately a half hour, when he was sure everyone was asleep, he used his sand, stupidly, to disappear and reappear behind me.

"Darcy," he said. If I had not had ninja training, I would have jumped to the cave ceiling and screamed like the little girl inside me was going to die; as it stood, I did have ninja training, so I didn't do that; in fact, I expected him to talk to me, just not in the manner he did.

"What?" I whispered so he could hear me, but not read my emotions. I didn't turn around.

"Please, Darcy, you have to forgive me," he said. "Even Temari thinks so, and she's on your side."

"I-I don't' know about that," I said. I was trying to stall, so I could remember what it was I was mad at him for.

"Darcy, please," he said. "I promise I won't ever hurt you again. I only wanted you to quite being a ninja so you would be safe, but I know I was wrong to do that. Just always know I'll protect you with my life."

Oh, that's what it was. I knew there was more, but I couldn't remember it.

"All I'm asking for is a second chance," he said.

Well, I was a firm believer in second chances. "Okay, I forgive you, Gaara," I said, and I turned my head to give him a kiss. As I said those words, I realized that I had really wanted to. And I was glad I did.

**A/N: Well, there you go. I forgave Gaara. Honestly, the only reason I had us break up is because there were SOOO many filler chapters that something interesting had to happen. Well, please review and spread the word!**


	14. Rescue

**D: I'm back! And this time, Anna and I wont' kill Akito… hehe, sorry Akito… :)**

**A: It's oaky… For now.**

**K: We really are sorry. Anywho, Darcy don't own nuthin!**

**D: Kye, really, use proper grammar.**

**K: NEEVEEEEEER!**

**A: Well, here we go.**

**Chapter 14:**

**Rescue:**

"Is this it?" Gaara asked.

"Yes," I said, sure of it.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Temari asked.

"Kiba, Jai, wait here, and have your radios on," I said. "If we go outside the range, follow us, but only to the point where you are in range. Wait for our calls for help, if they come. If not, wait for status updates."

"Got it," Kiba said.

"Crystal clear," Jai said with a smile.

"Okay, Kye, Akito, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, with me," I said. "Let's go, quickly, this could be life or death for Hinata!"

We sprinted into the building, everyone following me. We ran down hallway after hallway until we finally came to a door. I stopped.

"This is it," I said. I opened the door and instantly thought I was in my dream again; not because I felt like it, but because it looked just like it. There was the bed that Hinata was tied down to. And, on cue, came the scientist ninja.

"Get out of here!" The middle one shouted.

"Soon, the beyakugan will be ours, and you won't stop us, Leaf and Sand Shinobi," the man on the left continued.

"If you don't leave now," the man on the right said. "We will be forced to make you leave."

I decided not to quote my dream; too much déjà vu. "We're not going anywhere until we get our friend back. That was the whole point of this mission, and this is my first mission, after all, and I won't accept failure."

"Whether you accept it or not, it may just happen, girlie," the middle one said.

"Did he just call me 'girlie'?" I asked my friends.

"I think he did," Akito said.

"Okay, yeah, I'm 'girlie' when I'm not in ninja mode," I said. "But right now, brother, I'm in ninja mode. That means you better watch out, buddy."

"We're going to give one more chance to hand over Hinata," Kye said.

"Fat chance," the middle man said.

"Dibs on the middle guy," I said.

"I call the left man!" Akito said.

"I guess that leaves me the right one," Kye said. Without hesitating, we all lunged towards our victims, and they met us on the field of battle.

I round house kicked him so many times that my kicks turned into double kicks. I did combinations of spin kick and tornado kick and round house kick and back kick. This guy talked tough, but it didn't seem he had a bite to go with his bark. I finished him off with and axe kick to the head. Or, I thought I finished him. It turned out I was fighting some sort of supper intense shadow clone or something. Whatever it was, though, disappeared in a puff of smoke with my axe kick.

"What?" I asked in confusion. I looked left to see Akito's opponent disappear when she stabbed him with a lightning enhanced jab of her sword. To my right, Kye made her opponent disappear by throwing one of her giant shurikin. Now that I wasn't fighting, I noticed that Gaara was behind me, Temari was behind Akito, and Kankuro was behind Kye. They were all far enough away to let us fight our own battle, but close enough to jump into action if need be.

"Be on your guard, guys," I warned. "They could be anywhere." All of a sudden, there was a scream through our head set. "Oh, no! They got Kiba and Jai!"

"Well, why are we standing here?" Akito asked.

"Yeah, we gotta help them!" Kye said. They both headed to the hallway that led to the exit.

"Wait, guys, we can't help them!" I said.

"Why not?" Akito asked. "They're our friends; our comrades! We have to!"

"On our way out, maybe," I said. "But the mission is to save Hinata, and now's our chance."

"But –" Kye said, trying to defend Akito, Kiba, and Jai.

"Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, can you make sure they're alright?" I asked. The trio nodded, and went on their way.

"The mission comes first," I said. I hurried over to Hinata to make sure she was alright. There were IV needles sticking in her body, and other needles I didn't recognize, and she had a few cut and bruises, but she seemed to be fine. I checked her pulse, which we a bit week, but not at a life threatening rate.

It was after I had done all that, that I started working on untying her, or, in this case, unchaining her. She was chained down to the table, so I got out some senbon and worked on picking the lock. It took me about five minutes, but I did it.

Then I started working on healing Hinata. I started with what I saw: the fresh cuts, and as many as the old cuts that needed it. I went over to the computer to see what they had done to her. It looked like the put her under a sleeping draft. It wasn't a poison, just something that affected the mind. I figured I could deal with it the same Lady Tsunade dealt with the damage the Sharingan did to Sasuke and Kakashi. I was right. In a matter of minutes, Hinata was awake and sitting up.

"Hinata, are you okay?" I asked. Not in the worried voice I might have use once, but in the serious voice I had learned to use as a medic.

"Y-yes, I think so," she said.

"Hinata, what can you tell me about the scientists that captured you?" I asked.

"I've read about them before," she said. "They are ninja from a small town, not enough to be a village. They are known for the many kekkei genkai the steal. Small ones like from the Kamizuru clan, and that sorts. But now they're working on bigger ones, like the Beyakugan, the Sharingan, and the Rinnegan. I know they have one other big one, though. I'm not sure what exactly it's called, but it makes them practically invincible. They can form their bodies into anything they like. I-it's kind of hard to explain. But whoever is fighting them now is in big trouble."

"Gaara," was all I said before I sprung up and sprinted down the hallway and out the building.

Outside, Kiba and Akamaru sat protecting and unconscious Jai. And Gaara stood protecting his unconscious brother and sister. But he looked about at his limit chakra wise from using his sand to protect his team and Kiba, Akamaru, and Jai from the three scientists. I noticed a kunai flying towards Gaara, and I wasn't sure if he was able to block, so I sent a kunai to deflect it.

"Hey, over here!" I shouted. "I'm not done with you yet! You still have to pay for what you did to Hinata!"

I lunged towards him, kicking him in the head, somehow sure that this was the real thing, and not an illusion. We traded kicks and punches until he grabbed my shirt and sent me flying past Gaara and past his now conscious siblings.

"Darcy!" I heard my name, but was surprised that it was Kye calling it. Soon, both Kye and Akito were leaning over me. I sat up, ready to fight, briefly seeing Jai was conscious now, too, only to find Hinata standing in front of everyone.

"If you want the beyakugan so badly, try and take it from me," she said. She positioned herself in her fighting style, and I knew, somehow, that everything would be okay. They lunged at her, all three at the same time. "Protective Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms!" Her hands moved quickly and precisely, and the three scientists didn't know what hit them. In a matter of minutes they were down, but so was Hinata.

"Hinata!" I jumped up and ran over to her, checking her pulse and heart beat, just as an extra precaution. "She's just exhausted, that's all."

"It took us a day to get here," Temari said. "But it will probably take us a two days, if we're lucky, to carry Hinata and those guys back. But I would bet on a week at most. We should move out. Darcy, can you carry Hinata?"

"Yes, I can," I said.

"But –" Gaara started, but he was interrupted.

"Gaara, she has to, if Hinata get's hurt or sick or something, the Darcy needs to be able to heal her as quickly as possible," Temari said.

"Right," Gaara said.

"Gaara, Kiba, and I can carry those guys," Kankuro said.

"Akamaru, catch!" Kiba said, tossing one of the scientists onto Akamaru's back. Gaara used his sand to carry another scientist, and Kankuro slung the third one over his shoulder.

"Everyone ready?" I asked when I had gotten Hinata onto my back. I got nods from everyone. "Okay, let's move out."

**A Few Weeks Later (Sorry, guys, not going to explain the trip back, I know you guys were excited for THAT)**

We were about a mile from the village when we stopped.

"We'll wait until night fall," Kiba said. "And sneak into the Hyuga compound."

"Why? We're members of this village; can't we just go through the front?" I asked.

"No, because no one knows we left on a mission," Kiba said. "I don't know about you, but my mom thinks I've been out here training with you guys."

"Oh," I said. "That makes sense."

We waited for the sun to set.

"Okay, Hinata, can you use your beyakugan to see where we are in respect to the Hyuga compound?" Kiba asked.

"Yes, I can," Hinata said (she wok after about a day of rest, like I said, she was just exhausted). "Beyakugan!" She whispered. "Follow me, this way."

We followed her around the outside wall, keeping to the shadows, until she finally stopped.

"Here, we just need to climb up the wall," Hinata said. "Quickly and quietly." We all followed her, and were soon in the Hyuga compound.

"Let's go find your father, Hinata," I said. She nodded and led the way.

We entered the main building and down hallway after hallway. Finally, Hinata stopped at door and knocked. "Father?" She asked, and that was all that was need for the door to fling open, and for Hinata to find herself in the arms of her father.

"Hinata, are you okay?" He asked.

"Y-yes, Father," Hinata said.

"Good," he said. He released his daughter and turned to us. "Are those the men who captured her?"

"I don't know if they came to capture her, but if the didn't, they were definitely the ones who wanted her," I said. "The ones who want the Beyakugan." I amended. "What do you want us to do with them?"

"Leave them here," he said. "I'll deal with them. For now, you all should head back to your homes."

"Okay," I said, relieved. It would feel good to be back in a real bed. Everyone minus Hinata left and headed back.

"Bye, guys," Kiba said when we got to the Inuzuka compound.

"Yup, see you later!" Jai said with an enthusiastic wave.

I fell back behind the group after a few minutes, and Gaara joined me. We walked in a comfortable silence, not noticing that everyone else was way ahead of us.

"Thank you," he finally said.

"Huh? For what?" I asked.

"For forgiving me," he said.

"Oh, well, no problem, I guess," I said. "I mean, I believe in second chances, and part of me really wanted to, anyways. But keep in mind, I ONLY believe in second chances. Not third, or fourth, or even fifth chance's. So don't push it bud," I said, playfully hitting his arm. "But seriously, don't push it."

"Haha, I won't, I promise," he said. "You have a little less than three weeks until the final part of the exam. Are you ready?"

"I dunno," I said. "Will you train with me?"

"It would be an honor," he said, leaning down to kiss me. Unfortunately, our kiss was interrupted by Temari.

"Hate to break this up, love birds, but Darcy needs her sleep, and so do you, Gaara," Temari said. "Let's go." And she dragged Gaara away.

I hurried back to the Nara compound and up to my room. I would have to spend the next few weeks as productively as possible. I would have to try and develop a new jutsu, possibly. I fell asleep dreaming of new jutsu.

**D: DONE!**

**K: With this chapter. Not the whole story.**

**D: Right.**

**A: Are you going to make a Christmas chapter, Darcy?**

**D: I'll try to. But if I do, it'll be short**

**J: Bitch! You better!**

**D,K,andA: SHUT UP JADE!**

**G: All of you shut up, you're giving me a headache.**

**D: Sorry, Gaara.**

**G: Oh, it is okay. Please review, oh loyal readers!**

**D: What he said!**

**J,K,andA: BYE!**


	15. A Christmas to Remember

**D: Winter Break allows me to work a lot more. It's pretty amazing.**

**A: So is it time for the third part of the exam?**

**K: Yeah, I'm getting BOOOOOOOERD!**

**D: Hold your horses, you'll see. I don't own anything! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 15**

**A Christmas to remember:**

What I didn't tell you I did last night was stop at the store to buy presents. Today, in my world, was Christmas. I doubted the celebrated it here, but I still wanted to give my friends something. I had gotten Yoshino a new cook book (once when I was helping her, she said she wanted a new one). It was one that had the closest thing to American food I could find.

It was a little harder shopping for Shikaku and Shika. I finally decided on a new set of shurikin and kunai knives; a ninja would like that, right?

I headed downstairs gifts hidden behind my back.

"Can I have everyone's attention, please?" I was the last one up (even Shika was up, but I planed it that way) and they were all sitting at the table. "So, today, in my world, we have a holiday called Christmas. It's actually a religious holiday, but I don't really feel like explaining it to you. It's also a holiday where people give each other presents. Yoshino, here," I handed her the cook book.

"Oh, thank you! How did you – oh, right, you listened to me while you helped me," she sent an accusing at her husband and son. To distract them all, I gave Shika and Shikaku their presents.

"I wasn't entirely sure what to get you guys, to tell the truth, I hope you like it," I said.

"I've been meaning to get new shurikin and kunai, actually," thanks, Shikaku said.

"Same," Shika said. "Now you saved me the hassle of getting my own. Thanks."

"Now, you two," I said, turning to my best friends and teammates. "I couldn't think of a present that would express my love for you, so, instead, well, just wait and see." I handed them each a folded piece of paper with their name on it. "Open them later, after we leave here. Speaking of which, we need to leave now, so you can open them when we get to town."

**Later, in town:**

"Okay, you guys open those when you want, though preferably soon," I said. "I've got training to do." And with that, I hurried off the training fields to meet up with Gaara.

"Hey, Gaara!" I called out when I reached my destination. "I've got a present for you."

"What's the occasion?" He asked me.

"In my world, this time of year we have a holiday called Christmas," I explained. "And we give friends and loved one presents." I handed him two wrapped presents.

He took them and opened the top one: a box of chocolates. He opened the second one to find a kunai engraved with the same symbol on his forehead: love.

"Do you like it?" I asked, hopeful.

"I love it," he said, leaning in to kiss me.

We stayed that way for a few moments until I finally pulled away. "We need to train," I said.

"Yeah, you're right," he said. "Let's get started."

**Akito's POV:**

I watched Darcy run off, and then I turned my attention to the piece of paper she gave me. I was really curious because I wasn't sure how this piece of paper could express her love for me.

I opened it and read:

_Dear Akito,_

_Well, merry Christmas! Like I said, I couldn't think of a good present for you at first. No store bought item could express that small bond that grew into a roaring friendship. But then I thought: there is one thing. Go to Ichiraku's, you'll find a very pleasant surprise._

A surprise for me at Ichiraku's? Could it be… Free ramen? Only one way to find out.

"I'll see you later, Kye," I said, and I hurried off to Ichiraku's.

When I got there and pushed past the curtains, I found a better surprise than free ramen.

"NARUTO!" I screamed, flinging myself at him.

"AKITO!" He screamed, wrapping his arms around me.

"Darcy set this up, didn't she?" I asked. He nodded. "She's a better friend then I could ever ask for! I'm glad I remembered to order those kunai." Well, it was nice, but I didn't see how this was a present from her; it was just her having Naruto spend the day with me. But whatever, I'd enjoy it.

"What kunai?" He asked me as we sat down to get ramen.

"Oh, I ordered two kunai, one for Darcy and one for Kye, and it has the kanji for 'friends forever' on it," I explained.

"That's nice of you," he said. I smiled. We ate our ramen in silence for a while.

"Which reminds me," I said, reaching into my bag. "Here, it's your present."

He took the scroll I handed him and stared at it for a while. "What is it?"

"It's a scroll that you can use to summon me if you ever need help," I explained.

"Really? Did you make it yourself?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was a lot of work, but I got it," I said. I didn't mention that it was after about a hundred tries.

"Well, Darcy basically planed out our whole day," Naruto said. "Well, not really, but she gave us a lot of suggestions. What do you want to do?"

"I'd like to train," I said. "I want to work on the Wind Release: Rasengan."

"Okay, well, let's go," he said, gulping down the last of his ramen. I followed suit, he paid for the meal, and we ran off to the training fields.

**Kye's POV:**

I opened my letter after Akito ran off.

_Dear Kye,_

_I love you to death, you know that, and so do I. And I also know that you are now the only single girl in this trio. So, instead of what I gave Akito, just go to the Hokage's building. Sakura is waiting there for you._

"What the hell kind of present is that?" I muttered under my breath as I headed to the Hokage building.

I saw Sakura standing outside the building looking at some flowers as I approached her. "Hey, Sakura, I'm here for, uh, well, I'm not sure what," I said.

"I'm here to do, well, whatever you want," she said. "Train you; take you shopping, whatever you want."

"Train me, then," I said. "I guess we can just work on Taijutsu."

"Okay, follow me," Sakura said. She led me behind the Hokage's building. We trained for a while, but it was rather half-hearted on my part. I almost considered not getting her something, but when Sakura finally finished sparing (AFTER she won five rounds in a row), I went out to buy her and Akito something.

**Darcy's POV:**

"Thanks for training with me today, Gaara," I said. "But now I need to get back and prepare Kye and Akito's Christmas present. I made them believe that it was preparing a day for them, but really I'm preparing a big Christmas dinner for them. I think they'll love it."

"Do you want any help?" He asked.

"Thanks, but if I got help, then it wouldn't really be from me, would it?" I asked.

"I guess not," he said. "I have a present for you." He leaned forward, arm around me, and we stood there kissing for a long time before I had to break away to get home in time.

"Bye, Gaara!" I said. "Let's train again tomorrow!"

**After I get home and after I finish cooking:**

The table was set with ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and rolls when I heard the door open. I rushed to the door to see my friends.

"Okay, so you guys thought that what I set up today was your Christmas present, right?" I asked.

They both nodded.

"Well, it wasn't," I said. "But this is." I led them into the kitchen and showed them the meal I prepared for them. "Merry Christmas, guys!"

"You made this?" Kye asked. I nodded. "Thank you! It looks so good!"

"Yeah, it does!" Akito agreed.

"Well, then guys, dig in!" I said. And that was what we did. While we were eating dessert (chocolate cake), there was a knock at the door. The three of us went to get it together.

It was Naruto. "Hey, Akito," he said. "Here, I wanted to get you something." He handed her a wrapped box. Akito opened it to find a necklace with a blue sapphire. "It works just like Darcy's. I mean, you can store chakra in it."

"Thank you, Naruto!" She hugged him and kissed him.

"We should probably head to bed," I said. "We'll want to train tomorrow. The Chunin Exams will be here before you know it."

"Yeah," Akito and Kye agreed. And with that, Akito gave Naruto one final kiss, and we headed up to bed.

"Oh, before I forget, here," Akito said. She handed me and Kye each a kunai knife with the kanji for 'friends forever' on them.

"Thank you, Akito!" Kye and I said in unison, giving her a big hug.

"Oh, yeah!" Kye said, turning to us. "Thanks for reminding me, Akito." She took out two packages.

Akito and I tore them open. In each was a single silver wrist band with a hidden button on it.

"If you press the button, knives will appear," Kye explained. "It's very handy in tight situations."

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

"Yeah, it'll be perfect for the Chunin Exams," Akito said.

We all hugged and headed to bed.

**D: Well, it's kind of late, but that was the Christmas chapter.**

**A: At least you got it up!**

**K: Yeah… TWO FU*KING DAYS AFTER CHRISTMAS!**

**D: Oh, shut it, Kye. Anyways, review please!**


	16. The First of the Last

**D: Well, look who's back! For now. I'm really feeling kinda shitty (not in a sick way, in an emotional way) so I dunno how often I'll be able to update. But I'll try. Really, I will. Anyways, Kye! Akito!**

**K&A: Hai?**

**D: Who wants to do the disclaimer?**

**K&A: We do! Darcy doesn't own anything! Just herself.**

**K: I own Kye!**

**A: And I own Akito!**

**K&A&D: Please enjoy!**

**Chapter 16:**

**The First of the Last:**

Kye, Akito, and I stood in a line with the other contestants in the center of the arena. We knew who would be going first, and we knew who we would be facing.

I gulped. Was I ready for this?

Of course you are! My inner voice shouted. We can do this!

We? I asked her nervously. You're the one in the back of my head. I'm the one risking my life here!

Yeah, but I'm cheering you on!

Right, I replied. Because that is going to kill our opponent.

Be smart, she said. You don't have to kill her. Just get her to surrender.

Easier said then done.

Listen up, Lady Tsunade is talking!

"Welcome, genin," Lady Tsunade said. "I hope you are all ready for today. I foresee a very interesting sequence of events. Would contestant number one and contestant number ten please face each other in the center! Everyone else… GET YOUR ASSES UP IN THAT BALCONY!"

Kye and Akito gave me a quick, nervous hug and ran up to the balcony before Lady Tsunade killed them."

When I turned to face my opponent - Tsuki - I was shocked to come face to face with Tsunade (well, face to boob, since she's taller than me).

"Good luck, Darcy," she said. "Do Sakura justice. You're the first person she's trained. Don't disappoint her."

"Gee, no pressure," I said. "But I won't lose. I don't plan to."

"Oh, we don't care if you lose. We care if you become a Chunin," she said.

"I will, trust me," I said.

She nodded and stood at the center. "Contestants, please step towards each other." She spoke loud enough for the whole arena to hear. We obeyed. "Ready?' We nodded. "BEGIN!" She jumped back and Tsuki was immediately charging towards me. I was barely able to dodge.

"Gotta be better than that, girly!" She yelled, and lunged at me again, this time with a kunai. I was faster this time, and was able to grab my own kunai and block hers.

"Don't worry, _girly_," I sneered in her face. "I am." I kicked her in the stomach sending her flying backwards. She hit the ground, but quickly got back up; however, I was already charging toward her. I sent a crescent kick at her head, but she ducked, grabbed my leg, and sent me flying towards the wall. I hit it hard, and a few feet above the ground, and felt the air rush out of my body in one gasp and my eyes widened in pain. I fell to my knees, staring at the ground, as gasping for air.

I heard her coming. She was being pretty sneaking, but when she was just a foot from me, she kicked a rock. Had she kicked it further away from me, I wouldn't have been able to hear it over my gasping. But, I did hear her, and I rolled to the side. I looked to the left and saw a kunai where I just was.

I forced myself up, even though I could barely breath. I staggered backwards as she slowly advanced, a hungry grin on her face. I risked a glance around the arena. There! Just a foot to my left was a tree. I hurried towards it, my breath slowly returning, and managed to climb up the tree (with a lot of help from my chakra).

"Come down here, chicken!" Tsuki called from down on the ground.

I couldn't go down there, I didn't have enough chakra to perform the jutsu I wanted. My hand reached up to the crystal Sakura gave me. That's it! I did have enough.

"Fine, but you'll regret saying that!" I called down. I did a few hand signs and focused all of my chakra (both in me and in my necklace). I felt energy around me. "Water Style: Water Droplet Sword!" I held out my had and the water vapor in the air around me formed into a sword that was as real as any. I secured my grip on it, and jumped from my tree. I landed in front of her, but as soon as my feet touched the ground, I used a bit of chakra to teleport behind her, and I put my water sword to her throat. "Give up. Or I'll kill you."

"You wouldn't," she hissed. I pressed my sword into her neck, and a few drops of blood dripped down her neck. "Okay! Okay! You win! I give up!"

I smiled. "Smart choice." I let my sword vaporize and I took a few steps back and she fell to her knees.

"The winner is Darcy!" Shika said. Wait… what? He must have saw the question in my eyes, for he said, "Lady Tsunade asked me to take over as proctor so she could watch the matches from where she's supposed to be."

"Oh," was all I said, and I blacked out.

**D: I know, I know, you all hate me and want to kill me.**

**A: No, not me!**

**K: I do! Bitch, where the f have you been?**

**D: Oh, here and there.**

**K: Well, get back HERE -points dramatically at the ground at her feet-**

**D: I AM FING HERE!**

**K:… True…**

**D: At any rate, please forgive me. I can't promise how much I'll update, but I'll try. Please review. It might help me write faster. And I apologize about the length. Or lack of it, as the case stands..**


	17. Second Time's the Charm

**D: Guess who get's out of school this Thursday?**

**K&A: Guess who's already out of school? WE ARE!**

**D: Don't rub it in, or I'll take you guys out of the story!**

**A: -gasp- You wouldn't? Would you? -looks at Kye- Would she?**

**K: She wouldn't -looks at me- would you?**

**D: I dunno. Maybe you guys should just play it safe and worship me like the princess I am?**

**K&A: -long pause while they look at each other debating- NAH!**

**D: Well, someone should do the disclaimer. I think it should be someone we haven't seen in a while. OOOHHHH HIIIDDAAAAN!**

**H: What the f*** do you want?**

**D: Be a dear and do the disclaimer ;) **

**H:… -sigh- fine. She doesn't own anything.**

**D: And…?**

**H: What?**

**D: -hands him a note card- read it.**

**H: Ahem -takes out reading glasses and begins to read- The all mighty Darcy-hime in her wondrous beauty and awesomeness does not, unfortunately, own Naruto. However, she will pretend that she owns Gaara, Shikamaru, and… Hidan. What the f*** is this shit?**

**D: The disclaimer. And an attempt to boost my self esteem. It didn't work.**

**H: GOOD!**

**D:… F*** off!**

**H: Fine! -storms off-**

**A: Well, then…**

**K: On with the story?**

**D: Yes! Wait, one more thing!**

**A&K: WHAT?**

**D: I won't be updating again until school gets out. I don't really care anymore, but for my mom's sake (and for the sake of getting the HELL out of my house next year to go to college) I will try and show I care. But no more driving because I have a D in physics. Or worse. I think I failed. Anyways, neeeeexxxt CHAPTER! WHOOHOO! This will be Akito's fight, then Kye is next (she needs to come back from vacation so I can get some info on her opponent)**

**Chapter 17:**

**The Aftermath:**

**Darcy's POV**

I felt myself waking up, but my eyelids were too heavy to open and my body too sore to move.

What happened?

_You over used your chakra_.

Oh. And before you say anything, no, I am not in the mood to argue.

_I know. Neither am I._

I tried to move my body. I think I managed to wiggle a few fingers, for after trying that, someone grabbed my hand.

"Darcy? Are you awake?" Was that Gaara?

For his sake, I (barely) managed to open my eyes.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You over used your chakra," he said. "But that was a killer jutsu."

"Thanks," I said. "I don't know how I managed to use it successfully, though. It took me forever just to get the idea of the jutsu, let alone perform it. That was my first successful performance."

"It was brave to attempt it," Gaara said. "If you're able to walk, I think Akito's battle is next."

"I think I can," I said. I slowly sat up. Okay, good so far. I slowly swung my lags over the side of the bed and stood up. My knees nearly buckled, but Gaara caught me and held me up.

"Maybe you should stay here?"

"No, I want to see Akito fight," I said. I looked up at him (as he was taller than me), "Carry me?"

He smiled, "Of course, Darcy." He picked me up and carried me in his arms to where he and Tsunade sat, and sat me on his lap.

"We're just in time," he whispered in my ear.

I squinted down at the field where Akito stood facing her silver haired, blue eyed, glasses wearing opponent. He wore a black shirt, blue shorts, and red ninja sandals. Sakumaru.

"Please face each other!" Shikaku said, somehow his voice was projected throughout the entire arena.

Akito and Sakumaru did as they were instructed.

"Begin when ready!" With that said, Shikaku jumped out of the way. With out hesitation, Sakumaru lunged at Akito with a the biggest kinai I had ever seen. But she easily dodged it.

"Good," I said with a smile. "Smart move, but what will you do next?"

**Akito's POV:**

That was certainly a close one, he nearly got me. I took a calming breath. Should I try the rasengan or the wind release rasengan? No, not yet.

I drew my sword and sent my chakra into it, causing blue electricity to spark around it.

"Ready for this, Sakumaru?" I asked, and I charged. I swung my sword, but he dodged, so I swung it again, and managed to just barely graze his upper arm with the tip of my sword, but that was enough to cause him to be sent back by the lightning. I grinned, I didn't think the battle would be that easy. But the grin disappeared when his body poofed into smoke.

"A clone?" I asked. "Darn it! But where'd he go?"

"Behind you, gorgeous!" I heard him call, I was halfway turned around when he kicked me in the side sending me into a tree. I groaned, but stood up and noticed that my sword was no longer in my hand, but rather it was lying on the ground behind Sakumaru, who was advancing on me.

I stood up, and tried to run around him, but he ran at me and sent a kick at my head. I ducked, spun around to face him, and kicked him. He flew backwards, landing just a foot short of the tree he sent me into. I turned and ran to my sword. I picked it up triumphantly and turned in time to see a kunai flying at my face. I blocked it with a swing of my sword, only to see that Sakumaru was coming right at me. I sheathed my sword on my hip, and prepared for a hand-to-hand battle.

He sent a punch at me and I blocked it, sending a crescent kick at his head. He jumped back and sent a round house at me, sending me into the wall. I didn't hit the wall hard enough to get the wind knocked out of me, but I hit it hard enough to get a little dizzy.

I landed on my hands and knees and stood up, fighting past the dizziness. I shook it off, took out a shuriken, and tossed it at Sakumaru. He easily dodged, and ran at me.

We exchanged kicks and punches for what felt like hours, although it was probably only a minute or two. Finally, he landed a blow right on my nose. I staggered back a bit, and he kicked me in the stomach, sending me back even further. He sent a flying side kick into my stomach, and I flew into the wall. The impact nearly knocked me out. Well, I think I was knocked out, but something warm within me started to spread. I think it was my chakra. It started in my heart and spread throughout my body. This feeling… where had I felt it before?

The answer hit me as my body transformed.

That's right! My Kekkei Genkai! I relaxed and let my body transform into a wolf, ignoring the crowds gasps of awe.

With my new found wolf strength, I stood up and sent the most menacing glare at my opponent that I could. I think it worked, too, for Sakumaru started to back away. I slowly advanced towards him. If wolves could grin maliciously, I would be right now.

I gave a harsh growl, bearing my teeth, and then I lunged at him. I clawed his left arm, then his right. I was about to claw his chest (and, consequently, kill him) when Shikaku sensei jumped in between use.

"Akito! That's enough! There's no need to kill him!"

I cocked my head to the side and thought about it. Slowly, I calmed down, and I returned to my human form.

"Sorry, Shikaku sensei," I said.

"It's okay, go and return to the stands," he said, patting my head.

I did as I was told, and when I got up to the balcony, Kye greet me with a huge bear hug.

"You did excellent, Akito!" She cried. "**For once, I gotta agree with her.**"

"Aw, thanks guys," I hugged Kye back. "But where's Darcy? Is she still in the hospital?"

"I don't know," Kye said. "We'll go find out after my fight, okay?"

I nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan," I said grinning.

**D: Not the longest, but I felt it was enough action.**

**A: WHY DID I HAVE TO NEARLY KILL HIM?**

**D: Sorry, hun, but you didn't. Besides it was good action.**

**A: I guess so.**

**D: Sorry Kye can't be here, she's on vacation. AND NEEDS TO HURRY HER ASS BACK HOME SO SHE CAN HELP ME WITH THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

**A: Darcy, calm down.**

**D: NEVEEEER! Tomorrow is my last day of school. I have every Fing right to be excited.**

**A: Okay… -backs away slowly-**

**D: At any rate, I hope you enjoyed. Please review! I won't be able to update until Kye comes back and helps me with the next chapter so… TAT-TA FOR NOW!**


	18. The Best is Always Last

**D: GUESS WHO'S ON VACATION RIGHT NOW!**

**K:… Not me**

**D: I AAAAMMM!**

**K:… BITCH! -tackles me and starts strangling me and pulling my hair-**

**A: Uh, well, then… we don't own anything. ENJOY THE STORY! **

**-As the screen goes black, you can hear Akito's voice as it slowly fades out- Guys come on, quit fighting!**

**Chapter 18**

**The Best is Always Last**

_"You did excellent, Akito!" She cried. "__**For once, I gotta agree with her.**__"_

_"Aw, thanks guys," I hugged Kye back. "But where's Darcy? Is she still in the hospital?"_

_"I don't know," Kye said. "We'll go find out after my fight, okay?"_

_I nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan," I said grinning._

**Kye's POV**

"The next mach is Kye and Anna!" Shikaku called for the arena.

"Well, that's our cue!" I said. "**Let's kick some ass!**" I nodded to myself in agreement, and vaulted over the balcony to the ground. I straightened up, brushed myself off, and waited patiently for my opponent, Anna Iato, to make her appearance.

I smiled when she stood in front of me.

"Begin when ready!" Shikaku called, not bothering to ask if we were ready.

"I don't believe we were properly introduced when we first met. My name is Kye." I quirked my head to the side and smiled innocently.

"Yeah? Well, I don't give a shit." She lunged at me, but I was ready. I was only pretending to like her anyways. I jumped to the side, still smiling.

"Bitch, do you KNOW who you're messing with?" I straightened my head and stopped smiling. "**I don't think she does.** Well, let's show her, shall we, Jade? **We shall!**" I grabbed a giant Shuriken and tossed it at her, but I connected it with and invisible string of my chakra. Anna easily dodged, but got quite a shock when it came back around. Unfortunately, my aim was a tad off, and it only cut her arm up a bit.

"You think that's enough to kill me?" Anna sneered, looking up from the blood on her arm.

"Well, obviously it isn't," I said. "You are still alive, after all."

"Bitch, I'll kill you," she said. And with that, she lunged at me, holding this ball of fire and lightning in her hand. Was it supposed to be some sort of Chidori/Rasengan/Fire Ball combination or something?

**You don't have time to figure that out right now! Jump! NOW! **Jade instructed me. I did as I was told, and managed to escape the thing in her hand - mostly. My feet got hit by the fire/lighting thing.

Thank god for my combat boots, I thought. They just saved my feet.

"What the hell was that?" I cried, mostly to myself, so I wasn't really expecting an answer.

"A little technique of mine," she said, rather smugly. "Wanna see it again?

"I'll pass thanks," I said. "By the way, you owe me a new pair of boots." I indicated my blackened boots

"How about if you win, I'll buy you a new pair," It was clear she planed on wining.

Well, I'll show her I though.

**Yeah, after you dodge the huge ass fire ball! **Jade screamed in my head.

"Shit!" I shouted at the huge ass fire ball coming my way. I rolled to the side, the ends of my hair getting singed by the fire. "Bitch! You burned my hair!'

"Oh, did I?" She asked in a mocking tone. "I'm sooo sorry. Not!" She laughed at me. I just glared at her.

Her next move was unexpected. She lunged at me, and punched me right in the gut. I doubled over in pain. There was a sudden pain in my head when she kicked me there, sending me flying painfully to the ground.

I started struggling to stand and was suddenly lifted off my feet. Anna had her hand around my throat.

"Time to die, bitch," she sneered, and tossed me into the wall. She had her foot in my gut before I had time to fall down to the ground, pinning me to the wall.

I hung there limply, trying to figure out how to beat such a powerful opponent.

_Alright, now to finish her. First send her towards that tree_. Just after I heard that, I was being tossed towards a tree.

Of course! My Kekkei Genkai! I calmed my mind and focused on Anna's, whilst still pretending to be too week to stand (in other words, I was lying face-first on the ground).

_This bitch is gonna die_, she thought. _I think I'll use this_. I saw her envision her Rasengan/Chidori attack thing.

Time to move, I thought. I rolled over, and just in time, too. Her hand slammed into the ground where I was just a second ago, and it got stuck there.

"Haha, look where that jutsu got you," I said. I grabbed a kunai, jumped behind her, and put the knife to her neck. "Give up yet?"

She reacted by laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Look behind you and see," she said. I looked. There she was, flying towards me with shuriken in her hand, which she tossed at me, but I easily dodged them. When I looked back at her, she had a sword in her hand, and she was too close for me to dodge, but I still tried. In the end, I got a sword in my side. My beat down continued.

After about five minutes, I was covered in blood, lying on the ground.

"Give up yet?" She asked.

"N-never," I said, shakily standing up.

There had to be some way to stop her, but how? C'mon, Kye, you gotta figure this out.

I don't have enough strength or blood left for brute force, but maybe I have enough chakra for one last jutsu, but I would only have one shot, if I missed it would be all over.

**So don't f*** it up**, Jade said.

You are _so_ encouraging.

**Focus!**

She was flying towards me again. It was now or never. I did the proper hand signs. If this jutsu missed, I would die.

Taking a deep breath, I shouted, "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"

Anna's eyes widened. She was too close to get out of the way (not to mention she was in midair). She got full blast of the fire ball.

"The winner is Kye!" Shikaku shouted.

"Yay," I said weakly. And then I passed out.

When I finally woke up, Akito was standing over me. "I have great news, good news, and bad news," she said when she saw my eyes open.

"What is it?"

"The great news is that I found Darcy, the good news is that she's was with Gaara, and the bad news is, you ended up in the hospital," she said. "Oh, and you won, I think that goes under 'good."

"I would have put that under 'great'," I said. I tried sitting up, but I immediately fell back down holding my head.

"You shouldn't try sitting," said a new voice. I turned my head slightly to see Shizune coming towards us. "You lost a lot of blood, you'll have to stay here for a few days to recover."

I sighed. "So, no missions or anything for a few days?"

"Nope," Shizune said. "But, I'll let you guys in on a little secret. I know for sure that you guys and Darcy all made it to Chunin rank. So congrats on that."

"Really?" Akito asked.

"We made it?" I asked.

"Yup," Shizune said. "But don't tell anyone I said that, and try to act surprised when Lady Tsunade presents you with your vest."

"We will," Akito and I said in unison.

**D: Well, it took me longer than I expected to finish this. I meant to finish and update before I left on vacation, but then I got hit by a car riding my bike (I'm fine, don't worry) and then I was sore and sick and I just didn't feel like doing anything. Sorry. But I'm feeling better now, so don't worry.**

**K: The only thing I was worried about was that you wouldn't finish this. So no worries here.**

**D: Gee, thanks. I feel SO loved.**

**A: Darcy! Are you alright?**

**D: Yeah, I'm fine. At least someone cares -glares at Kye-**

**K: Whaaaat?**

**D: -sigh- just review please.**


	19. Attack Plan

**D: Um… Hi… so, I'm Darcy. **

**K: Why are you introducing yourself?**

**D: It's been a while since I was here, I thought maybe people forgot.**

**A: -walks in- Hi, Kye, who's the new girl.**

**D: Akito!**

**K: That's Darcy, Akito.**

**A: I know, I was just kidding. So what's in store for this chapter?**

**D: Read and find out. GAARA-KUN!**

**G: Yes?**

**D: Can you do the disclaimer, please?**

**G: My dear Darcy doesn't own the Naruto, the plot, or the characters. She only owns herself.**

**D: Though I try to own him sometimes ;)**

**K: I own Kye.**

**A: And I own Akito.**

**D: Let's go, guys!**

**Chapter Nineteen:**

**Attack Plan:**

"I want to personally congratulate the three of you for passing the Chunin Exams and becoming Chunin of the Hidden Leaf Village," Tsunade said. She stepped from her desk with three green Chunin vests. "Akito," she handed one to Akito. "Kye," she handed one to Kye. "And Darcy," she handed one to me. I gave Gaara a quick glance and a smile before returning my gaze to Lady Tsunade, and bowing in thanks.

Lady Tsunade returned to her desk. "Now, I would like to have you three lead some simple missions to get experience, but Akatsuki is on the move. Since you have no experience leading, I'm going to chose your teams for you."

"Wait, aren't the three of us going to be together?" I asked.

"Now that you three are Chunin, you have to lead your own teams," Tsunade explained. "Now, my plan is to have three teams go in. First, a recon team. Kye, you will lead that. You will have Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame. Akito, you will be the back up team. If Kye gives you the okay, you come in as back up. Your team is Naruto Uzumaki, Kiba Inuzuka, and Rock Lee. Darcy, you will be the back up medic strike team. Stay out of the fight at all costs unless they need you. You are the medic, it is essential you stay alive and unharmed. Your team will be Sakura and Shikamaru's older sister Etsu Nara."

"Etsu Nara? I've never heard of her or seen her around," I said.

"Neither have I," Kye said.

"Me neither, and we've been living at the Nara compound," Akito said.

"She's been on a training mission for a few years to improve her medical ninjutsu skills," Tsunade explained. "She'll be arriving home today. Now, before you gather your team, I'm going to go over the plan." She beckoned us over to her desk where there was a map of the all the countries and villages. "Feel free to adjust the plan as you need, but follow it until you reach the base. Okay, so here we are," she pointed at Konohagakure. "And here is where Akatsuki's base is located," she pointed at Amegakure. "It'll be about a three or four day journey."

"What about supplies?" I asked.

"Bring a day of supplies, I have it planed so you'll stop by a town every day," she said. "It's your choice to stay in town or camp out. Once you get to Amegakure, be very careful and make sure no one detects you. Akito and Darcy, you and your teams must stay out of sight while Kye and her team check out the base and see what's in store for everyone. Alright?"

"Yes, ma'am!" We said in unison.

"Good, go gather your team and explain the mission," Tsunade ordered.

We all left the room. "Hurry up and find your teams, I want to leave as soon as possible. Meet at the Nara compound," I told Kye and Akito.

Kye and Akito nodded and we ran off in our respective directions.

**Kye's POV:**

First I ran to the Yaminaka Flower Shop, since that was closest. I hurried in and found Ino's mom behind the counter.

"Hi, ma'am, can I speak with Ino?" I asked.

"Sure, dear, I'll go get her," the woman said, and she turned and went through a doorway behind the counter.

As I waited, I looked at some roses and tried to start planning my route to get Hinata and Shino, but I ended up imagining Itachi.

"_Oh, Itachi," I said. "It's only a matter of time before we are reunited. I can't wait."_

"_Neither can I," he replied. Then his tone changed, and he started saying really weird things. "Kye? Kye? Kye! Are you in there?"_

"Kye!"

"What?" I asked, snapping back to reality and looking around to see who called my name.

"Why were you just staring at that rose?" Ino asked.

"Um… no reason, did you hear anything?" I asked.

"No, why?" She asked.

"No reason," I repeated.

"Um, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, we have a mission. I'll explain later. Go get Hinata, I'll get Shino, meet me at the Nara compound," I said.

"Okay," she nodded and dashed out of the flower shop, shouting over her shoulder, "I have a mission, mom! Bye!"

I quickly dashed out after her, but took a different path to Shino's house.

When I reached the Aburame house, I found Shino sitting outside.

"Shino! I need you for a mission!" I called out as I ran up to him.

"What mission?" He asked.

"I'll explain everything later, at the Nara compound. Let's go, we're meeting Hinata and Ino there," I said. He nodded and we took off.

**Akito's POV:**

First stop was Ichiraku's Ramen shop. And there was Naruto.

"NARUTO!" I shouted, hugging him from behind.

"Akito, hey, what's up?" Naruto asked. "Wanna join me for some ramen?"

"Yes!" I said in excitement. "But… I can't. And neither can you. We have an important mission involving the Akatsuki, come on, go find Rock Lee and I'll get Kiba, and we'll meet up at the Nara compound. I'll explain everything there!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Naruto said. He quickly paid for his ramen, and dashed out of the shop. I hurried off to the Inuzuka compound where I found Kiba's sister, Hana Inuzuka.

"Hey, Hana!" I called out, before remembering that she didn't know me.

"Who are you?" She asked, slightly defensively. She repositioned herself in a subtle attack stance.

"Oh, sorry, one of Kiba's friends," I said. "I need to speak with him, it's about a new mission."

"Oh," she said, immediately relaxing. "I'll go get him." She turned, and took a few steps, and then looked back. "What's the mission?"

"Um…" I hesitated, not sure if I should tell her about the mission. "It involves the Akatsuki."

"I see," she said. She made her way back to the house at an urgent pace.

In a matter of moments, Kiba and Akamaru were outside. "Where are we going?"

"To the Nara compound, the mission will be explained there," I said. And with that, we ran towards the Nara compound.

As Kiba and I arrived, so did Naruto and Rock Lee, and Kye and her team.

"Hey, guys," I said. "Where's Darcy?"

"I'm hoping in the house," Kye said. "Let's go."

I nodded, and our large group made their way into the house.

"Glad you guys are here," Darcy said. She was leaning on the far wall of the kitchen with our pink haired friend next to her. A girl with black hair that fell to her waist and black eyes sat at the table. She stood up and I saw that she had black leggings on under and black mini skirt that was cut on the sides for easy movement, and a black spaghetti under and unbuttoned Jonin vest.

"Hi, guys, my name is Etsu Nara," she introduced with a smile. "I'm a join and a medical ninja. I guess I'll be the only Jonin on this mission, but I won't hesitate to follow your instructions."

"Thank you," Kye and I said together.

"Now, I'm going to explain the mission," Darcy said, moving from the wall to the head of the table. She knelt down, and we all followed suit. "We need to get going as soon as possible because it's a four day journey to Amekagure. Now, here's the plan so far…"

**D: Well, there ya go. Sorry for the late update. I've been… unmotivated. Today was the first day of school, and my knee kills. Too much walking. BUT! My school has this Adopt-a-Student program and the guy I got is soooooo handsome.**

**G: I'm sorry, what was that?**

**D: Nothing, Gaara-kun**

**K: I sense another filler coming…**

**D: No way, not at all.**

**A: Um… anyways, review. Please and Thank you!**

**D: OH! A side note on reviewing. Please, please, please use constructive criticism. That's the only way I'll ever get better. Okay, thank you! Review please!**


	20. Attack the Base

**A/N: Okay, so let's get past the whole part where you guys hate me and yell at me for making you wait for an update for so long? Okay? Cool? Great! I do apologize, really, truly, and sincerely. The laptop hard drive was replaced, meaning EVERYTHING (including the chapter of this that I was working on and ALL of my poems basically) were lost. Which really upsets me. And I was also working on another fanfic. But now that that's finished, I'm going to go between this and my fma fanfic (check it out if you haven't, aside from a few things, I think it's pretty decent). So, with out further ado, enjoy, my loyal followers, er, I mean readers. Hehe.**

**Disclaimer: Really? Come on guys, I'm sure you all know I wanna own Gaara, and why don't we add Hidan to the list, too.**

**H: Wait, what?**

**D: OH, nothing!**

**K: Oh, brother…**

**A: Well, before we start, Darcy, have anymore accidents recently?**

**D: No… wait! Yes! I feel off my bike and hurt my knee! Now because of that (and insufficient time in my schedule, and lack of money) I am quitting Taekwondo until summer (I do have to pay half the bill, which I don't mind… when I have money).**

**A: Jeez, I was kidding.**

**K: I think you need to stay off your bike, hun…**

**D: Yeah, for now. But once winter's over, I'm back on! Also, I just went to Youmacon, so feel free to ask me about it! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 20:**

**Darcy's POV**

We sat outside what I was sure was the Akatsuki hideout (Shino had checked with his bugs to confirm). It was a plain, tall building; nobody would suspect evil villains sat in there plotting the end of the world.

"Kye, you ready?" I asked.

"Yeah, so here's my plan," she said. "Ino, Shino, Hinata, and I will go in and explore the place. Ino and I will stay hidden while Shino and Hinata explore. I have faith they won't get caught. I will communicate with each of them and see what they find and then relay it back to you and Akito. That's basically it."

"Okay," Akito said. "Then Naruto, Kiba, and Lee will head in, if it's okay, and kick their asses."

"Darcy, what exactly are we looking for?" Kye asked.

"Their numbers, and which members are there," I said. "Specifically if _she_ is there."

"You don't mean…?" Kye asked.

"I do," I replied. "Kelsey."

"What exactly happened between you two and my cousin?" Akito asked.

I exchanged a glance with Kye, and then we said together, "It's complicated."

"It's also a story for another day, okay?" I said.

After a pause, Akito nodded. "Kay. So, let's get this party started, she said."

I smiled and nodded to Kye to go ahead.

She jumped up, and Shino, Ino, and Hinata followed.

I looked over to see Sakura standing against a tree just a bit away. I got up to talk to her. It was obvious something was wrong. "What's up?"

"What's the real plan?" She asked.

We were out of earshot, and Akito was distracted anyway. "If Kye gives us the OK, I'm going in with Akito. You and Etsu say here, we need some medics to survive. Akito, Naruto, and Lee may not be able to handle the fight alone. Besides, I have a score to settle."

"And what if Kye doesn't give the OK?" Sakura asked, looking at our small group. Etsu looked up. I was pretty sure she couldn't ear us, but she looked concerned; perhaps she was wondering what we were talking about. "I'm sure… well, I'm _hoping_ you thought of alternatives. Specifically one of them."

"If she's captured, we'll know. She'll tell us they were captured and tell us to get out," I said. "In which case, we'll all go in, including you and Etsu. I hate having to put the medics at risk, but I think it's our only option. What do you think?"

She thought for a moment; perhaps considering other options, but probably just weighing the options I had given her. "It's… it's the best choice. If at all possible, though, one medic should stay back. Just in case."

I nodded, and glanced over to Etsu who was staring at us quizzically. I beckoned her over, and told her what Sakura and I had just discussed. "I want you to stay back, okay? You're the one I know the least about. It's not that I don't trust you, but I know Sakura's fighting style, so I can work with her better."

"I understand," she said. She turned to head back to the group, but paused. "It's a good plan, I'm impressed; however, Lady Tsunade may not agree."

"She won't find out unless absolutely necessary," I replied.

Etsu nodded and headed back to the group. I indicated with a tilt of my head that Sakura and I should follow, too.

Just as we got back, I heard a voice in my head.

"It's all cl-" Kye's voice was cut off. "Get out of here! It's a trap!" By the looks on everyone's faces, she spoke telepathically to all of us.

"Let's go!" Naruto said, racing into the building with Kiba, Lee, and Akito on his tail.

I nodded to Sakura. "Stay here, Etsu." I barely saw her nod before Sakura and I were running into the building behind Akito's team.

"What are you two doing here?" Akito asked. "Lady Tsunade said that you need to stay hidden."

"Well, this is Akatsuki we're dealing with, I don't want to risk anything. Besides, there's a certain ass that needs kicking, and I'm going to do that." I paused and thought for a second. "Scratch that, two asses that need kicking."

"Hidan and Kelsey?" Akito guessed.

"You got it," I said, eyes trained ahead. I was so ready for this.

"Don't even think about it," Kye said, appearing behind us. "She's all mine."

"We can take her together," I said, trying to compromise.

"No. She's all mine. She took my Itachi!" She shouted.

"Kye, quiet!" I hissed.

"Too late," a voice said behind us. We all stopped, and spun around to see Konan there.

Immediately, I jumped in front of Naruto, arms spread out. "If you want him, you have to get through me first!"

"Easily done," Konan said, reaching into a pouch under her cloak and sweeping her arm up across her body and in front of her face. Between her index and middle finger, there was a thin sheet of paper. A thin, deadly sheet of paper.

Suddenly, Kiba was laughing. "What's a measly piece of paper going to do?"

"More than you know, Kiba," I said. "She controls paper."

"So what? It's one piece of paper," Kiba said

"So what?" I repeated, then sighed in exasperation. "Never mind. Just shut up! Can you do that, Kiba?"

Kiba opened his mouth, shut it, opened it, shut it again, and nodded.

"Good dog," I mocked. "Now, you guys go on. You need to rescue the others, and then take out Akatsuki, I'll stay here and take care of Konan." I knew I couldn't. I knew I would wind up dead or captured, but they needed time. And I could give it to them.

"No," Akito said, stepping in front of me. "_You_ go on, and _I'll_ hold them off."

"What? But-" She cut me off.

"You had something to do, right?" She asked.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then do it, I'll take care of her."

"It's too dangerous for you, though."

"And it's too dangerous for you," Akito countered. "Just go, you're wasting time."

I sighed in defeat. "Come on, guys," I said, leading the way on and away from Konan.

There was no time to argue, we had to hurry if we were to rescue Ino, Hinata, Shino, and…

"Hold on," I said, stopping dead in my tracks.

"What? We need to hurry, Darcy," Sakura said. "So we can save-"

"I know, I know, so we can save the Ino, Hinata, Shino, and… and Kye," I said, pointedly staring at 'Kye'.

"What are you talking about? Darcy, I'm right here," Kye said.

"No, you're an impostor," I said. "Just who the hell are you?"

Instead of panicking, the imposter just laughed, and released their transformation jutsu, revealing…

**Akito's POV**

Konan and I had been exchanging blows for good few minutes. I had landed a scratch here and bruise there on here, and she had landed double on me.

I finally landed on really good punch, right in her gut, sending her stumbling back. But I reveled in my glory for a bit too long, for in a blink of the eye, she sent a return kick at my gut, sending me flying a few feet down the hall. As I struggled to stand up, she suddenly appeared above me, paper in her right hand. Grabbing me with her left had, she tossed me at the wall, quickly sending paper flying at me, cutting up my arms.

I kept standing up and she kept knocking me down with paper, kicks, or punches, until I couldn't get up anymore.

_I can't give up_, I though. _They need more time. And I know how I can do that!_

Summoning the last of my chakra, I used my kekkei genkai and transformed into a wolf.

I was happy to see surprise in her face when I stood up, if only for a second.

I knew this wouldn't keep her busy for long, but hopefully it would be long enough.

I growled at her menacingly, ready for her attack.

She took a fighting stance and lunged at me, but transforming into the wolf gave me a bit more energy, so I was able to doge and claw her back.

She screamed out, but the attack didn't stop her. She turned around and kicked me, and I skidded down the hall, but managed to stay on my feet.

I growled again, and charged, pinning her on the ground. I growled and snapped my teeth at her, teasing her.

Just as I was getting ready to bite, she kicked me off. I hit the wall and a squeal escaped my mouth. As I was getting up, she had already sent paper at me

There was nothing I could do.

_Sorry guys, hope I got you enough time_, was my last though before I blacked out.

**Darcy's POV:**

I glared. "Deidara," I sneered. "Where's Kye?"

"How about I take you to her, hm?" He asked.

"How about I kick your ass, and you lead me to her," I said, taking a fighting stance.

"No," Sakura said. "Kiba, Akamaru, and I can handle him. You, Lee, and Naruto find Kye and the others. And the rest of Akatsuki."

I hesitated. "Fine. Let's go, guys." I turned t leave, but then stopped and looked back. "Be careful, Sakura Sensei."

She started at that. I had never called her that before, but I was supposed to, but she was back in her fighting stance in a second. "You too," she said.

"Okay, let's get out of here," I said.

"Darcy," Naruto said. "I know my safety is top priority, but please, please, please don't send me back to Konoha."

"Why would I do that? I'd be disobeying Lady Tsunade," I said.

"Thanks." By the sound of his voice, I could tell he was smiling. "But don't let your job to protect me stop you, er, well, us from saving the others."

"I'm so glad you said that," I said. "Let's go get them."

**D: I'm so, so, so, so, sooooo sorry for the supper, supper, SUPPER late update. But I tried to make this extra long, just for you guys, my loyal and loving readers. Who won't try to kill me… right?**

**K: I don't think it's them you have to worry about.**

**A: Yeah, I think it's Akatsuki you need to worry about.**

**D: If they infiltrate my Authors Note?A&K: Yeah.**

**D: Well, they won't… wait… shit… that's them… SEE YA! -runs away-**

**A&K: Review please! Thanks for reading, and she really is sorry about the long wait. She feels terrible.**


	21. Final Fight part one

**D: Winter break is here! YES!**

**K: Yes! Finally! We both have free time to write!**

**A: Yay for free time! Also, Darcy owns nothing.**

**D: A few sides notes. Since I highly doubt that I'll write a Christmas chapter this year (I don't really have time to write a decent one, and as of now, it simply won't fit in the plot) Merry Christmas! Or Happy Holiday's if you don't celebrate Christmas. But I think I might write a New Years chapter. Which also might end the story. I'm not sure yet, it all depends on what happens in this chapter. I kind of make up the story as I go. Well, it writes it self, basically. If that makes sense. Also, Naruto has NOT gone through his Shippuden training with Kakashi and Yamato. So, basically, if no one comes to help us, we're screwed. Enjoy!**

**Chapter Twenty-One:**

**Final Fight part 1:**

"Okay, so we know for sure that Kye, Ino, Hinata, and Shino are captured," I said. "That's four people."

"Akito is probably captured, too," Naruto said. I could hear the worry in his voice.

"We'll save her," said, throwing a smile back at him. Then I turned my head forward again, saying, "We'll save all them."

We ran down the hallway, unsure of where we were going, until we entered a large, circular room. On the far end of the room Kye, Ino, Hinata, Shino, Akito, Sakura, and Kiba were hanging, cuffed and unconscious to the wall, and Akamaru lie sedated on the ground. In front of them stood all nine member of Akatsuki. And Kelsey.

Since they were too far away to single in on one person, I glared at all of them, taking a fighting stance, and sensing Lee and Naruto do the same thing.

None of them moved.

"You're terribly outnumbered," Pein said emotionlessly. "Hand over the Kyuubi and I'll let all of you go, unharmed any further, your friends behind me included.

I let a humorless, staccato laugh escape my mouth. "No chance in hell."

"Have it your way," he said. And wit that said, Hidan, Kisame, and Konan charged at us. Well, Hidan and Kisame did, Konan disappeared and reappeared behind Lee.

"Lee, can you handle her?" I asked.

"Well, I would rather not fight a woman, but if I must…" he trailed off as he and Konan faced off.

"You must!" I shouted. I didn't wait for a response before I started giving Naruto orders. "Naruto, I'd rather have you not fight, but I know you'd just disobey that order."

"Yeah, you're right," he said. Getting ready. They were almost on top of us.

_Damn it!_ I thought. _I don't have time to tell Naruto to go and warn Etsu. To send her for reinforcements._

With that thought, there was only one thing to do. "Good luck, Naruto. Dibs on Hidan." And I was off.

I closed the remaining few meters between me and Hidan by round house kicking his head.

_Target hit_. I grinned, as he stumbled to the side, but he definitely wasn't down for the count.

He quickly caught his balance and charged at me, swinging a low kick at my legs, and knocking me down. I used the momentum to roll away from him and stand back up in a fighting stance.

"We both know how this is going to end, bitch, so just give up!" Hidan shouted, running at me and swinging his scythe.

"Funny," I said, ducking under the scythe and jumping back. "I was about to say the same thing. The 'bitch' comment included." I gave him a smirk.

He glared at me and started swinging harder. That put me on the defensive. I ducked, and dodged, all the while trying to figure out just how to stop him.

I squinted my eyes in concentration as I dodged, looking for an opening, a weakness, a fautlt, _anything_ at all.

It took a few close shots, but Hidan was finally slipping.

_There!_ I thought, sending a side kick straight past his scythe and into his stomach. He stumbled back a bit, and I took that as an opportunity to crescent kick in to his head, sending him to the ground. I did a few back hand springs, and then tossed some shuriken at him when I was done. I knew it wouldn't do anything, it was mostly just to distract him and buy me time.

_Buy me time for what, though? There's no way we're getting out of here alive with out help. Reinforcements is beyond the question. So my only other choice is to free Kye and the others. But Akito probably won't be much help. She'll still be exhausted from her fight with Konan. _I froze, realizing something. _None of them will be able to help. Even if I can get them conscious, which isn't happening with Hidan fighting me, they'll all still be weak._

For the first time in my life, I felt truly alone and helpless.

"Darcy, look out!" Naruto shouted, snapping me back to reality just in time to dodge what would have been a fatal strike from Hidan's scythe.

He stopped swinging suddenly. "Come on, bitch, this won't be fun if you don't fight."

I just stared at him. I was going to lose. We all were. It. Was. Over.

I fell to my knees, staring at the floor.

"Darcy, get up!" Naruto called.

"Darcy, you must not give up! You must keep fighting!" Lee shouted encouragingly.

I ignored them.

"Fine, I'll just put you out of your misery," Hidan growled. I heard him running towards me. I closed my eyes. This was it.

I braced myself for the moment his scythe would hit. But it never came.

I opened my eyes to see I was surrounded by sand.

_It couldn't be…_

**D: Cliffy! HAHAHAHA!**

**K: Are you SURE you're on our side?**

**D:… um, yeah, why?**

**A: It's just, that laugh is kind of evil sounding…**

**D: Oh, well, sorry… Anywho, tomorrow (today, actually), well, Christmas Eve is going to be a Me Day (unless I get called into work) so I should have the next chapter up soon. No Christmas themed chapter this time around, though. Possibly a New Years themed one, though? What do you guys think?**

**K: Sounds cool.**

**A: Yeah, totally. Go for it!**

**D: Not you guys! My readers!**

**K&A: -glare-**

**D: Um.. Well… looks like they want to kill me… TATTA FOR NOW! Review please! -runs away-**

**Marry Christmas/Happy Holidays everyone! Enjoy your time with your family, no matter what you celebrate. Remember, you only get one natal family. Treat them well, even if you think you aren't treated fairly. They could do so much worse. They could kick you out, they could not feed you, they could physically/sexually/emotionally abuse you. The list goes on. So many people can't celebrate Christmas/the holidays with their family. So treat yours well. They really do care about you, even if it doesn't seem that way. For the most part, I mean, I don't know what everyone's life is like and all, but yeah. You get my drift.**

**Happy Holidays! The next chapter or the one after will have what I got for Christmas!**

**Please review! Thanks!**


	22. Final Fight part 2

**D: Okay, guys, I changed the title of the last chapter. So Now it's "Final Fight par one" so don't freak out about the title for this chapter. Also, I don't if I've said this before or not, but I let the story write it's self. I mean, I have a general beginning, middle, and end in mind, and I have most of the characters in mind. But everything else (including the details of the beginning, middle, and end) are being revealed/made up/however you want to look at it. So, with that said, I never know how long my stories will be. But I think this one is ending soon. We'll have this fight, which I'm hoping will be the end of the fight, then I'm going to have a New Years chapter, and then an epilogue. There MIGHT be another story after this (making this story a trilogy) but I'll talk about that in the last chapter because I don't want to spoil anything.**

**K: What do you mean, spoil anything?**

**A: I think she meant to ask, what do you mean the stories ending?**

**D: Well, you know, all good things come to an end. Except for Gaara. He's an anime character, so he lives foooorreeeeveerrr hehehehehe -continues laughing like a delusional little girl-**

**Chapter Twenty-two:**

**Final Fight part two:**

_Previously:_

_I fell to my knees, staring at the floor._

"_Darcy, get up!" Naruto called._

"_Darcy, you must not give up! You must keep fighting!" Lee shouted encouragingly._

_I ignored them._

"_Fine, I'll just put you out of your misery," Hidan growled. I heard him running towards me. I closed my eyes. This was it._

_I braced myself for the moment his scythe would hit. But it never came._

_I opened my eyes to see I was surrounded by sand._

It couldn't be…

No freaking way. So we might actually survive? I thought.

"Of course you'll survive," a voice said behind me.

"Gaara, how did you-" he cut me off.

"How did I get here? I got orders from Lady Tsunade to be your back up. We left just a few hours after you."

"'We'? Who's we? But that wasn't what I was going to ask."

"Me, Temari, and Kanuro, of course," he said. "What were you going to ask?"

"How did you answer the question that I was… Oh, wait, my kekkei genkai," I said sheepishly, forgetting my own gift.

"Yeah." He was silent for a second, thinking. "Darcy, after our fight, I trusted you could take care of yourself. I mean, of course I still worry, but… Darcy, what's wrong? Why did you just stop fighting?"

"I… well…" I hesitated, looking down at the ground. It was stupid. Why did I even think like that? "It doesn't matter." I looked up at with a new found determination in my eye. "We can do this. Together. You and I. What do you say?"

"I've got your back. Ready?" When I nodded, he released the sand around us.

I quickly turned, ready to fight Hidan, but he was gone.

In his place was Kelsey.

I glared.

"Change of plan, Gaara," I said. "I've got this. Go free Kye, Akito and the others."

He said nothing, but I felt him turn and leave.

Kelsey and I just stood there, glaring. Waiting for the other to make a move.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" She asked.

"You," I said.

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm waiting for you to make a mistake," I said.

"Well, I'm not going to," she said, and with that, she ran at me, taking out a kunai. Just as she was about to stab me I jumped back, taking out my own kunai, blocking her next strike, and jumping back again. I reached in my weapons pouch, and threw some shuriken at her. She easily dodged, but I expected her to. While she was busy dodging, my hands were busy performing hand signs.

"Shadow Clone Justus!" I shouted, creating nine clones, making a total ten of me. We stood in a line facing her. "Ready for this?" And I charged at her, kicking and punching her as she stood there completely unprepared.

After a good minute or two of punching and kicking I released the shadow clones and jumped back.

Big mistake.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" She shouted.

I darted to the side and managed to dodge it. I stopped and turned back towards her, but before I could do anything, she was sending the Phoenix Flower Jutsu at me. I dodged all but the last one, which singed the end of my hair.

I looked at her, and then my singed hair. "You burnt my hair!" I shouted at her.

"Yeah? So?" She asked, hands on her hips.

I glared, and ran at her. I punched her in the stomach, and then kicked her in the stomach, sending her into the air. Using my chakra, I jumped up above her and slammed my foot in her back, sending her crashing to the ground.

I landed next to her and watched her struggle up, and stumble backwards a few steps before she caught her balance.

With a kunai in had, I ran at her, but I froze when the knife was inches from her neck.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill someone in cold blood. Well, I guess it wasn't cold blood. But I still couldn't kill someone.

I dropped the knife, and slowly withdrew my hand, but before it had fallen to my side, with lightning speed, I smacked her head, knocking her out.

Just then, Gaara reappeared by my side.

"They're all free," he said, pointing to the wall they were just chained up at, the rest of Akatsuki had joined in the fight. "But I think they need medical attention."

"No shit," I replied. "Take care of her. I want her alive. We're going to send her back home, but not after finding out what she knows about Akatsuki." He nodded, and I hurried over to my friends.

"First to heal Sakura," I said. "Perhaps she'll be able to help me." I examined her to find her body covered in mild burns.

Probably fro Deidara's bombs, I thought.

I closed my eyes and focused my chakra in my hands, hovering them over her wounds. Even after I healed all her wounds, she was still unconscious.

"Of course, she probably exhausted herself in her fight," I said. I looked over all of my friends. "All of them probably did, except for maybe Kye, Hinata, Shino, and Ino… INO! She's a medic! Maybe she can help me!"

I scrambled over to her and examined her. Some minor cuts and bruises, a sign of a struggle, but not necessarily a fight. After I healed her minor wounds, I placed my hands on her head, and, while focusing my chakra, tried to see if she was under any genjutsu. Sure enough, she was.

I've never done this before, I though. I have no clue what to do. If only Sakura were awake to help me.

"Well, here goes nothing," I said to myself. I sent my chakra into her head as if I were healing a normal flesh wound. For a few moments, nothing happened, and I almost gave up, but then her eyes fluttered a few times before opening.

"Ino!" I cried, hugging her. "Are you alright?"

"I've been better," she admitted. "But I'll be fine."

"My first mission, and I've totally blown it," I said.

"Don't talk like that!" Ino scolded. "Besides, you've done nothing wrong. It's our fault we got captured."

"But, as the leader-"

"Hey, no one's dead," Ino said. "And you captured that girl, so we've got intel, too. That sounds pretty successful to me."

I looked at her and smiled. "Thanks, Ino."

"Now, let's make sure everyone is okay," Ino said.

I nodded. "Right." I stood up to go over to Kye, but something - or someone - grabbed the back of my shirt and tossed me away from my friends and into a wall.

"That'll teach you to turn your back on your opponent," the familiar voice of Hidan said.

I quickly collected myself and got in a fighting stance.

"I took care of your friends, too," he said.

"What?" I asked. He tilted his head indicating what seemed to be a lifeless body of Kankuro with Temari bent over him concerned.

My eyes widened. So that's what he was doing when Gaara removed his sand from around us.

I took one step towards him, to see if I could help, but Hidan's scythe appeared in front of me, causing me to jump back.

"I would worry about yourself, rather than him," Hidan said, swinging his scythe at me again. I jumped up to dodge it, but when he swung at me again, I realized my mistake. I was stuck in midair, unable to move, with a scythe that I needed to dodge coming right at me.

Just when I thought it all was over for me, sand came in front of me, blocking the scythe. I fell to the floor right at my boyfriend's feet.

"Thanks," I said, as he helped me up.

"I did say I had you back," he replied.

"Let's do this," I said.

But before we could do anything, something caught my attention in the corner of my eye. I looked over to see Naruto facing… it couldn't be. Nageto?

It was indeed Nagato, and his hands were glowing, and Naruto was unconscious. Nothing about this situation made me feel very good.

I opened my mouth to cry out "Naruto!" But someone beat me to it.

I watched in horror as Nagato sent a glowing blast of something towards Naruto, and as Kye jumped in front of the beam.

A terrible scream escaped her mouth, and it looked as if she was getting electrocuted. She collapsed to the ground, and a ghostly figure floated out of her body.

Was that her soul?

No, it looked different than her.

As the figure began to solidify, I saw she was a pale girl, with strange, rainbow colored hair. She wore an outfit similar to Ino's, but hers was all white, and she had black, elbow length gloves on.

What just happened?

I watched as the new person ran and glomped Itachi.

"Nagato!" Konan shouted, running to his side, while everyone else stared dumfounded at Pein's collapsed body.

After scooping up Nagato's body, she turned to the remainder of Akatsuki. "Someone grab Pein's body and let's move out! We're done here for now!"

"But-" Hidan started.

"Out. Now."

With out another complaint, Kisame picked up Pein's limp body, and they all left.

"What…?"

I wasn't the only one confused.

"What now?" I asked.

"You're the leader," Gaara said.

"I'm not the only one!"

"You're the only conscious one," Gaara pointed out.

"Oh… right…" I looked over at Kye's unconscious body, and then Akito's. "Um, well, I guess we have to carry them back. Including Kelsey. We need her for intel. Let's move out, guys, there's nothing more to do here."

I grabbed Kelsey, Temari grabbed Kankuro, Ino grabbed Sakura, Naruto grabbed Akito, Lee grabbed Akamaru, and Gaara carried everyone else with his sand.

It was difficult to transport everyone back to the leaf village, but we did it.

I helped get everyone into a hospital room, and I helped get them back to normal.

Once Kye and Akito were feeling better, we were summoned to Lady Tsunade's room for a meeting with her.

"Now, you all have a choice to make," she said. "You did your job here, you helped with Akatsuki, and we also have Kelsey to get information from. Now, you must chose: do you wish to return home? Or perhaps stay here?"

"Um…" I said, not sure of how to react. I glanced at each of my friends in turn.

They looked just as conflicted as me.

"You will be able to visit your families if you like, and they can know what you're doing," Lady Tsunade said. "And you don't have to make this decision now. Go home and rest, you've earned it."

**D: DUN DUN DUUUU! What will happen next? Who knows? I do! Find out next time, on, Reunion!**

**K: But, wait, what happened to me?**

**D: All will be explained in the next chapter!**

**A: Review guys, thanks!**

**On a side note, there will be two more chapters of this story. But there will be another story after this. I'm not sue what it's called yet, but I do have a general idea of the plot. It'll involve those scientists that captured Hinata in that one filler chapter thing. But that's all I'm saying! I do apologize, though. There will be a long break (probably) between this story and the next. I have another fic I need to finish, and more I need to decide whether to keep or to trash. So, see ya next time! It'll be a New Years Eve chapter, and our heroines decision! Stay tuned!**

**Also, I hope this chapter was long enough. I know the last one was kind of on the short side, but I worked hard to make this one good and long.**


	23. The New Year

**D: So… this is the second to last chapter, and there will be a long break.**

**K: I'm gonna miss it… when it's gone, of course.**

**A: Me too…**

**D: Well, while we all cry, you can read the story. I own nothing except myself.**

**Chapter Twenty-three:**

**The New Year**

Kye, Akito, and I were all at the table the next morning, discussing the pros and cons of staying here and going home.

"I'd miss my parents," Akito said.

"Yeah." Kye nodded.

"Same," I said. "But, I mean, Kye and I are eighteen, so we'll be leaving home soon anyways."

"But I won't," Akito replied. "But I don't want to leave you guys."

"Yeah, we need you for a complete team," Kye said.

"It's such a hard decision," she said. "Can I have some time on my own to think about this?"

We both nodded.

She got up and headed for the door. "I'll be back later." And she left.

"Well, what do you think?" I asked Kye.

"What do you mean?" She tilted her head in curiosity.

"Stay or go?"

"Oh, that's easy, I'm staying." She gave me a grin.

"Same," I said. "I can't leave Gaara."

"I hope Akito stays, too," She said.

"Yeah, but we can't make her, and we have to respect her either way."

"Yeah," she agreed. "So, what now?"

"I don't know," I said. "Let's go get something to eat or something."

We got up and left.

**Akito's POV:**

"Naruto, I don't know what to do," I said. We were at a river, sitting on a dock, holding hands, our bare feet sitting in the water.

"I'd miss you if you left," Naruto said. "But it is you choice. And I don't want to force you to leave your parents."

"I…" I hesitated, getting an idea. "I need to go speak with Lady Tsunade! Thanks for listening, Naruto!" I kissed him quickly on the cheek, and hurried to the Hokage's building.

I barged into her room, not even bothering to knock, and cried out breathlessly, "Lady Tsunade! Lady Tsunade!"

"Akito?" She cried out in questioning surprise. "What can I do for you?"

"Is it at all possible for me to speak with my parents before I make my decision?"

Lady Tsunade sighed. "I'm afraid I can't, Akito. It takes a lot of chakra to transport someone between two worlds. And say your parents don't let you. You would have to return here to let me know, and say goodbye to everyone, just to be sent back."

"But-" I started.

"I'm sorry, I simply can't do it," she replied. Then added at my disappointed look, "If you chose to stay here, I promise you will be able to return home once a year, and you can explain everything then."

I paused for a moment, thinking. "Al-alright, I'll stay," I muttered. Then I looked up at her with determination. "I'm staying as a chunin of Konoha!"

"That's what I like to hear. Said like a true kunoichi of Konoha." She smiled at me.

"I believe Kye and Darcy are staying as well," I said.

She nodded. "They saw me already. Go find them, tell them your decision, they'll be happy."

"Yes, ma'am!" And I hurried off to find my friends.

I found them sitting in a small park area near the center of the village, just sitting and talking.

"Hey, guys!" I called as I sat down on the ground in front of them.

"Hey, what's up?" Darcy asked.

"Oh, well, nothing really," I said. "It's just that, well… I'm staying." I beamed up at them.

"You are?" Darcy asked.

"That's awesome!" Kye exclaimed. "We'll be our own team! Well, when we're not leading separate teams."

"Yeah, we're chunin, after all," Darcy said.

We were silent for a moment. "Hey, guys, do you know the date?" I asked absently.

"Um…" Kye paused.

"No clue," Darcy said with a shrug.

We thought for a moment before we realized…

"It's New Years Eve!" We all exclaimed together, then shared a laugh.

"We should celebrate!" I declared. "Let's get everyone together at the Nara compound! I can go get the guests while you two take care of food and decoration! Sound good?"

"Brilliant!" They said together.

We all stood up.

"So let's be ready by nine, okay? That gives us five hours," I said. They nodded in agreement and we all headed our separate ways.

**Darcy's POV:**

"Okay, so do you want to do food or decorations?" I asked.

"Food, for sure," Kye said. "I'll start figuring it out."

"Good, I've already got an idea for decorations," I said. "See you!" And I darted off through the village.

Lights, lights, lights, I though. Where could I buy - Oh, there!

I ran into a shop and bought as many Japanese lanterns and strings to hang them up as I dared (which was quite the sum), and I also bought some gold and silver streamers. It seemed simple now, and I guess it would be when it was all set up, but sometimes simple is better.

I hurried back the Nara manor, where I ran into Shikaku.

"What's that for?" He asked.

"New Years Eve party. Want to help me set up?" I asked.

"Sure, just tell me what to do," he said.

I handed him the lanterns and told him how I wanted them strung around the yard. Once he was done with that, I strung on the trees and the strings hanging the lanterns up.

I stepped back with Shikaku. "This'll look brilliant when we light them tonight." I said.

"Yes it will," he agreed.

**KY's POV:**

Okay, I thought to myself. I definitely need alcohol, for the adults. And sushi is a good idea, too. And some fruits and veggies are a good idea. And I should find some sort of salty snack. Oh! And I can't forget the sugary treats!

I hurried through the village, gathering my supplies. I had about three hours left.

Time to get home and get it all ready. I hope Darcy has her decorations ready, I thought to myself.

When I got to the Nara compound, I saw traditional red Japanese lanterns hung around the yard stretching from the porch to just a few feet from the forest. There were silver and gold streamers hung on the trees and on the lantern strings.

I went inside and fond Darcy chatting with shikaku. They glanced up at me when I came in, but quickly returned their attention to each other.

"It's so simple," I said. They both looked up. "But I like it."

"Glad you do," Darcy replied, standing up. "Need help?"

"Sure, you can plate the sushi," I said.

Darcy got to work on that, and I quickly got to my tasks of cutting and plating fruit, and setting up everything else.

Darcy finished her job quickly, and started setting up a table outside.

"Hurry up, Kye!" She called from outside while lighting the candles. "It's almost nine!"

"Cool your jets," I said coming outside, balancing a tray of fruit in one hand and a veggie tray in the other. "I'm done. Can you go grab the chips and the drinks?"

"Sure," she said, running inside, and carrying out the two large bowls of chips in her hands and dragging the basin of drinks (alcohol, Japanese fruit juices, and a Japanese version of sparkling cider) with her foot. She had her leg looped through the handle and was walking awkwardly. But I guess I would be too if I had a basin of drinks on my leg.

We had everything ready as Akito arrived with a group of people following her. It wasn't too big really. Naruto, Sakura, Sai (though I'm not sure why she brought him, maybe Naruto insisted), Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, Shizune, and Lady Tsunade.

"Everyone's here, so lets' start this party!" Kye shouted.

**Darcy's POV:**

"Yeah!" I agreed, but then I saw Gaara, who had drifted away from everyone and to the porch, I slipped away silently to stand next to him.

He took my hand and we watched the festivities.

"You did a good job decorating," he said. "Akito told me you did them."

I smiled. "Thanks."

He wrapped his arms around me and held me to his chest. We stood like that and talked the whole night.

**A few minutes before midnight**

"Okay, guys, it's nearly midnight," Kye called out. She had just returned from inside with a clock. "This isn't really the way I would count down New Years, but I doubt we could get the channel that shows the ball dropping in New York." Everyone looked really confused, but Kye continued before they could question her. "We'll start counting down with ten seconds remaining, and then party some more! After a quick announcement from us." She indicated herself, me, and Akito.

I looked at her in confusion.

"What's the announcement?" Gaara asked me.

"You're just as curious as I am," I replied.

The few minutes before midnight had passed with her speech and my short talk to Gaara, and everyone was counting down.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone shouted.

I turned my head to smile at Gaara, and he captured my lips.

"Now for the announcement," Kye shouted, getting everyone's attention.

"Our job here is done," She said. "And it's our time to leave." The air around us seemed the get really thick, and everyone seemed down. Gaara clutched me to him, and I saw Naruto grab Akito. "Well, if we were leaving," Kye continued. "Which… WE'RE NOT!"

Everyone cheered, and Gaara's grasp loosened, but still held me lovingly.

Naruto kissed Akito, and everyone rejoiced.

It was the start of a new life.

**D: Well, one more chapter and I'm done with this story. There will be a third addition, and it will involve the scientists that captured Hinata, and Orochimaru.**

**K: How long will it be before it's out?**

**A: Yeah, we're going to miss you!**

**D: I honestly have no clue. I have one more fic I need to finish, and, like, four more I need to either finish or delete. Or just work on. But I do want to try to write a Yu Yu Hakusho fic, but, to be honest, the fan base kind of scares me. I'm terrified to be hated for a HieixOC pairing, or for having someone OOC, but we'll see. Anyways, not much else to be said, so, if you have any questions, feel free to PM me, and please review! I'll get the epilogue up ASAP. BYE FOR NOW!**


	24. Epilogue

**D: And here's the epilogue!**

**K: I'm so sad! I'm gonna miss you!**

**A: Me toooo!**

**D: Guys… we talk outside of the story, you know.**

**K&A:… Oh, yeah…**

**D: Well, I don't own anything. Enjoy!**

**Epilogue:**

**Four months later**

**Darcy's POV:**

I woke up in my room in the Kazekage's building. I hadn't finished my medical training yet, but I had made progress, and I was here as an ambassador of sorts. It was mostly to make arrangements to have some medics from our village come and train willing shinobi to become medics themselves.

Today was my last day in the village, I had just a few more papers to sign, and then our work would be done.

I guess Lady Tsunade trusted me to do this because I was so close to Gaara, but she did give me a hell of a lecture on negotiating, and gave me a freaking _book_ on what would benefit Konoha the most.

I sighed. At least this is almost over, I thought as I got dressed in a simple outfit of black pants, a black long sleeved shirt, and my chunin vest. I secured my headband on my forehead, and pulled my now mid-back length hair into a pony tail.

There was a knock at my door as I was adjusting my bangs over my headband, making sure they parted enough to reveal Konoha's symbol.

"Enter," I called out. Probably Baki, who had been my escort since I arrived in the village. Gaara had been too busy with Kazekage duties to have any personal time for me. Which was fine, his village should come before me.

I turned to see Baki's familiar face.

"Ready, ma'am?" He asked. Though I was technically a rank bellow him, he still felt he should hold such formalities with me because of my importance as an ambassador.

"Yeah, totally ready to be done with this," I said, following him out of my room. "But I'll miss the village… And Gaara."

"You'll see him again, I'm sure," he said.

"Yeah, at the chunin exams," I muttered. "Let's just get this over with. This work is so boring." God, I must have sounded just like Naruto.

Baki just laughed.

In a matter of minutes, we were in the meeting room. Gaara sat on one side of a long, rectangular table with Temari on his left, and Kankuro on his right. I took my place across from Gaara, with Baki standing at the door.

Here, Gaara was no longer my boyfriend, but the Kazekage, and we had official business to deal with.

"So I guess we just have papers to sing and we're done?" I asked.

"Basically," Gaara said. "We've agreed that you will send three medics to our village for a span of two years, and then send three new ones after the two years is up. This will continue for four cycles, making it a total of an eight year contract. Along with that, you will supply us with medical records if we need them for research, and our new medics will be able to go to your village and access your research labs when necessary, and to get extra training."

"Correct," I said. "And in return, you will send three of your jonin to train interested students in our village. Each trainer, for each village, is allowed a maximum of two students each."

"This is correct," he replied.

"And we are both in agreement?" I asked. He nodded. "Good, then let's sign this thing so we can be done." I signed my name on the scroll, and turned it to Gaara, who signed his own name.

"Negotiations over," I said. Then I looked up at him, "Right?"

He laughed. "Right. I think we all deserve a break," he said. Temari and Kankuro got up and left with Baki, but Gaara and I stayed seated, staring at each other.

"This is awfully… formal," I said, not wanting to use the word 'awkward'.

He smiled and stood up. He walked over to the balcony, and I didn't hesitate to follow him.

"I've been thinking," he said.

"Uh oh," I teased.

"Hey," he said, sounding serious, but he smiled when I looked up at him. "Darcy… Will you… will you marry me?"

"Will I… what?" I asked, not believing my ears.

"Marry me," he repeated. "I mean, at least consider it." He looked out across his village, but I continued to stare at him.

"I'll do more than consider it." I reached up to his face, turned his head, and captured his lips. "I'll accept," I said once we parted.

He smiled. "I love you," he said, holding me close. "So very much."

"But, I think the wedding will have to wait," I said.

He pulled back and looked at me.

"I mean, I have to return to Konoha and bring the scroll to Lady Tsunade, and then I have to plan the wedding, I said, along with doing all her dirty work."

"I understand," he said.

"Give me a year," I said. "Come to Konoha, and we'll have it."

"I'll keep you to your word," he said.

I kissed him. "I guess I should be returning home. The treaty will take immediate effect once I return. You will hear otherwise from Lady Tsunade, via messaging bird."

"Understood," he said.

He grabbed my arm as I was about to jump from the balcony to a roof below, turning me around and kissing me. "I'll miss you," were the last words I heard form him.

I smiled. "I'll miss you, too." And I jumped down from rooftop to rooftop until I reached the ground, and I sprinted from the village, scroll in hand.

I was only a few feet from the village when I realized I was being followed, I turned my head to the left and saw three sand shinobi behind me.

"We'll be your escorts back to Konoha, ma'am," a shinobi said.

I nodded. "Let's get a move on, then."

**Three days later**

"Darcy!" Kye and Akito cried, both of them hugging me the second I set foot in Konoha.

"Hey!" I cried out in surprise, but I hugged them back.

"How was the meeting?" Kye asked as we headed to Lady Tsunade's office.

"Fine," I said. "But I have good news."

"What?" Akito asked.

I looked at both of them, and then looked straight ahead. "Gaara asked me to marry him." I felt a smile spread across my face.

"No way!" Akito cried.

"Congrats!" Kye said, then after a pause, added, "Who's going to be your maid of honor."

"No clue," I said. "We're not getting married for a while, though. We both have a lot of work to do."

"Oh," Akito said.

"How long?" Kye asked.

"I told him to come back in one year," I said. We had just reached the Hokage's building. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a mission to finish." And I ran inside before they could follow me.

**After the meeting with Lady Tsunade:**

Lady Tsunade had congratulated me on my first solo mission, and the good news, and told me I could have a short break, but to come to her as soon as I was ready for another mission, which wouldn't be for another few days.

I exited the building to find Kye and Akito waiting for me.

"Hey, guys," I said.

We headed to the Nara compound, I was ready for a break.

"What have you guys been up to while I've been gone?" I asked.

"Well, I've been spending a lot of time with Naruto, but I've done a few solo missions," Akito said. "Simple ones, really. Things like guarding a scroll for a day while waiting for the real guards to come, and taking out some bandits in the mountain. Nothing as big as a deal between two villages." She laughed.

"Well, I actually just got back from a mission," Kye said. "It wasn't solo, though. I was on a recon mission with another chunin and a jonin."

"And?" I pressed for details.

"Well, we've found one of Orochimaru's old hideouts," she responded.

"What?" Akito and I asked, both stopping to stare at her.

"Yeah," she said, looking grave. "We found some documents. We're not sure if they were left there on purpose or not, but they had a bunch of information about Hinata on them. And, more importantly, about the byakugon."

"That can't be good," I said.

"You guys remember that one mission, right?" Kye asked. "Where we had to rescue Hinata from those scientists?"

"Yeah," Akito and I nodded.

"What if that's the stuff they got?" She asked. "That means they were working for Orochimaru."

We were silent, then she asked the dreaded question. "What if he has more information?"

**D: Sorry to leave you guys hanging like that, but this is the end until next time. I'll try and work hard to get up the next story soon, but you'll hate me for a while. Promise.**

**A: I'm gonna miss you!**

**K: Meee tooo!**

**D: You know I love you guys! Please review. I thought I should get this chapter up now, because I start school up again tomorrow. But… FIVE MORE MONTHS AND I'M DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL FOOOOORREEEEVEEERR!**


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